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THE   FINANCE  COMMISSION 


OF   THE 


CITY    OF    BOSTON 


A   REPORT   ON   THE 


BUILDING  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE 
CITY  OF  BOSTON 


BOS  TON"  I A 
IE)1TA^]). 

MS®. 


CITY   OF  BOSTON 

PRINTING   DEPARTMENT 

IQI2 


THE   FINANCE   COMMISSION 


OF   THE 


CITY    OF    BOSTON 


A   REPORT   ON    THE 


BUILDING  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE 
CITY  OF  BOSTON 


CITY    OF  BOSTON 

PRINTING   DEPARTMENT 

1912 


Gift 


77/25 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

I.     Alleged  Defects  of  the  Building  Department         .        .        .        .       5 
II.     Scope  of  the  Finance  Commission's  Investigation        ...       6 

III.  Administration  of  the  Building  Department  .        ...•••        .        .       6 

1.  Powers  and  Duties  .        .       .        .        ...        .       .6 

2.  Organization      .       *       ,        .        .        .       ......       8 

A.  The  Number  and  Compensation  of  Employees      .       8 

B.  The  Commissioner        .        .        .       '.     "..        .        .    '    8 

C.  The  Clerical  Division  .        .        .        .        .        .        .      10 

D.  The  Plan  Division        ....        .        ...        .11 

E.  The  Construction  Division         .        .        .  13 

F.  The  Egress  Division 17 

G.  The  Plumbing  Division 20 

H.    The  Gas  Fitting  Division 22 

I.     The  Elevator  Division 26 

J.     The  Existing  Tenement  House  Division    .        .        .28 

3.  Enforcement  of  the  Building  Law 30 

4.  Improper  Practices  .        .'.'.' 35 

A.  The  Financial  Dealings  of  the  Supervisor  of  the 

Gas  Fitting  Division 36 

B.  Violations  of  the  Law  by  Certain  Employees  of 

the  Building  Department 39 

5.  Annual  Reports 40 

A.     Unnecessary  or  Defective  Material  ....     41 
'  B.     Statements  of  Accidents 43 

6.  Summary .45 

IV.  Defects  in  the  Building  Law 45 

A.  Places  of  Public  Assembly 46 

B.  Tenement  Houses    .    ".' 47 

C.  Licensing  of  Builders .        .48 

V.     Recommendations       .        .       '.  _; 49 

1.  The  Plan  Division    . 49 

2.  The  Construction  Division 50 

3.  The  Gas  Fitting  Division        . 51 

4.  Appointments    .        .        . 51 

5.  Enforcement  of  the  Building  Law 51 

6.  Improper  Practices 52 

7.  Annual  Reports        .        .        .       ."    .        .        .  .     53 

8.  Changes  in  the  Building  Law 54 


M548362 


A  EEPOET  ON  THE  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT 
OF  THE  CITY  OF  BOSTON. 


BOSTON,  November  22,  1912. 
To  the  Honorable  the  Mayor  and  City  Council: 

GENTLEMEN, —  On  November  1,  1911,  the  Finance 
Commission  submitted  to  the  Mayor  a  report  upon 
the  collapse  of  a  building  at  the  corner  of  Hanover  and 
Battery  streets,  which  occurred  on  October  10,  1911, 
and  in  which  three  lives  were  lost.  The  Mayor,  in  a 
communication  to  the  commission  dated  November  3, 
1911,  stated  that  the  report  had  awakened  a  question 
in  many  quarters  as  to  the  efficiency  of  the  Building 
Department  as  a  whole,  and  he  then  requested  the 
commission  to  make  a  comprehensive  investigation  of 
the  department.  The  commission  has  made  the  investi- 
gation and  submits  the  following  report : 

I.     ALLEGED    DEFECTS    OF    THE    BUILDING 
DEPARTMENT. 

At  the  time  the  commission  began  its  investigation 
no  specific  charges  had  been  made  against  any  of  the 
officials  or  employees  of  the  Building  Department,  but 
there  was  considerable  uneasiness  in  the  public  mind 
as  to  the  safety  of  buildings  which  were  being  erected. 
This  feeling  was  aggravated  by  building  collapses 
which  occurred  after  the  investigation  had  begun. 
The  collapses  were  thought  by  some  to  be  due  to  the 
lack  of  proper  safeguards  in  the  building  laws  respecting 
the  methods  of  construction  and  the  competency  of 
those  in  charge  of  it;  others  thought  the  fault  due  to 
the  failure  of  the  Building  Department  to  require  the 
filing  of  proper  plans  prior  to  the  granting  of  building 
permits;  others  believed  it  due  to  the  lack  of  proper 
inspection  of  the  work  by  the  building  inspectors,  and 


6  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

still  others  thought  it  due  to  an  insufficient  number  of 
inspectors.  The  feeling  was  general  that  the  organiza- 
tion and  methods  of  the  department  were  faulty,  that 
discipline  was  lax,  and  that  these  evils  were  largely  due 
to  the  influence  of  politics.  There  was  also  a  strong 
undercurrent  of  suspicion  as  to  the  integrity  of  some 
of  the  department's  employees,  and  many  rumors  of 
graft  were  afloat,  most  of  which  were  vague  in  character. 

II.  SCOPE   OF   THE   FINANCE   COMMISSION'S 

INVESTIGATION. 

The  commission's  inquiry  has  included  an  investiga- 
tion of  the  powers,  duties,  organization  and  methods 
of  the  Building  Department,  including  the  system  under 
which  complaints  for  violation  of  the  building  law  were 
referred  to  and  dealt  with  by  the  Law  Department, 
and  an  examination  of  certain  parts  of  the  building  law 
which  affected  public  safety.  During  the  investigation 
the  records  of  the  department  have  been  inspected, 
there  have  been  frequent  conferences  with  the  present 
Building  Commissioner,  all  of  the  employees  of  the 
Building  Department  have  been  examined,  visits  have 
been  made  to  various  buildings  in  course  of  erection, 
and  consultations  have  been  held  with  a  large  number 
of  architects  and  builders,  including  three  former  heads 
of  the  Building  Department. 

III.  ADMINISTRATION    OF    THE    BUILDING 

DEPARTMENT. 

1.     POWERS  AND  DUTIES. 

For  the  purpose  of  safeguarding  the  public  against 
the  dangers  involved  in  the  improper  construction  and 
maintenance  of  buildings  and  other  structures,  and  of 
certain  appliances  therein  or  appurtenant  thereto,  the 
law  has  imposed  upon  the  Building  Department  numer- 
ous important  duties  and  has  clothed  it  with  large  powers. 
The  department  has  supervisory  powers  over  the  con- 
struction of,  additions  to  and  alterations  of  buildings, 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.         .     7 

the  quality  of  materials  used  therein,  and  the  erection  of 
steam  boilers,  engines,  furnaces,  dynamos,  etc.;  it  is 
required  to  inspect  elevators  and  hoistways;  to  inspect 
and  supervise  theaters,  moving  picture  houses,  halls 
and  places  of  public  amusement  where  an  admission 
fee  is  charged;  to  inspect  and  regulate  plumbing  and 
gas  fitting;  to  examine  buildings  damaged  by  fire  or 
accident;  to  investigate  the  origin  of  fires;  to  enforce 
the  law  relating  to  egress  in  buildings  and  certain  provi- 
sions as  to  light,  air,  ventilation  and  sanitation  in 
tenement  houses;  to  see  that  unsafe  buildings  or  struc- 
tures are  secured,  or,  upon  the  written  approval  of  the 
Mayor,  to  have  them  removed  unless  they  are  made  safe. 
It  is  required  to  examine  plans  which  have  been  filed  by 
order  of  the  Building  Commissioner  for  the  purpose  of 
ascertaining  whether  work  is  intended  to  be  done  in 
conformity  with  the  building  law,  and  to  issue  permits 
when  applications  therefor  are  made  and  filed  in  con- 
formity with  law,  otherwise  to  withhold  them,  subject 
to  the  decision  of  the  Board  of  Appeal,  and,  in  case  of 
violation  of  the  terms  of  the  permit,  to  order  the  whole 
or  any  part  of  the  work  to  be  stopped  until  the  terms 
have  been  complied  with.  It  is  also  required  to  keep 
records  of  the  business  transacted  by  the  department 
and  of  all  violations  of  the  building  law.* 

An  indication  of  the  amount  of  work  performed 
by  the  department  is  found  in  the  fact  that  last  year 
20,074  permits  of  various  kinds  were  granted  and 
85,441  examinations  of  various  kinds  were  made, 
including  the  examination  of  6,141  plans.f 

It  is  obvious  that  the  efficient  discharge  of  such 
duties  and  the  proper  exercise  of  such  powers  require 
a  large,  competent  and  well-disciplined  force  directed 
by  a  thoroughly  honest  and  efficient  building  com- 
missioner. 

*  A  full  statement  of  the  department's  powers  and  duties  may  be  found  in  the  Annual 
Report  for  1911-12,  pages  5  and  6. 

t  Annual  Report,  1911-12,  pages  1  and  2.  The  number  of  examinations  given  above 
does  not  include  the  monthly  examinations  of  theaters  aild  public  halls,  or  the  examina- 
tion of  existing  tenement  houses.  See  Annual  Report,  1911-1C,  pages  23-29,  inclusive. 


BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 


2.     ORGANIZATION. 

A.  Number  and  Compensation  of  Employees. 
At  the  present  time  the  department's  force  numbers 
seventy-five,  and  the  total  payments  for  salaries  and 
wages  are  at  the  rate  of  $117,450  a  year.  The  organi- 
zation is  composed  of  eight  divisions, —  clerical,  plan, 
construction,  egress  (including  theaters  and  public 
halls),  elevator,  plumbing,  gas  fitting  and  existing  tene- 
ment house  divisions, —  each  under  a  separate  head  and 
all  under  the  control  of  the  Building  Commissioner. 
The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  employees 
in  the  various  divisions  and  the  total,  the  minimum 
and  the  maximum  salaries. 


Number. 

Salaries. 

Minimum 
Salary. 

Maximum 
Salary. 

Building  Commissioner  

1 

$5,000 

Clerical  Division: 
Chief  clerk  

1 

2,500 

Clerks*  

15 

15,850 

$600 

$1,300 

Plan  Division: 

1 

2  800 

Assistants 

3 

4,100 

1,300 

1,400 

Construction  Division: 
Supervisor. 

1 

2  500 

Inspectors  

Egress  Division  (including  theaters  and 
public  halls)  : 
Supervisor 

18 
1 

28,800 
2  000 

1,600 

1,600 

Inspectors  

Elevator  Division: 
Supervisor  
Inspectors 

7 

1 
3 

11,200 

1,900 
4  300 

1,600 
1  200 

1,600 
1,600 

Plumbing  Division: 
Supervisor 

1 

2  000 

Inspectors  

9 

14,400 

1,600 

1,600 

Gas  Fitting  Division: 
Supervisor  
Inspectors  

1 
9 

2,000 
13,500 

1,500 

1,500 

Existing  Tenement  House  Division: 
Chief  inspector  

.      1 

1,700 

Inspectors  

2 

2,900 

1,300 

1,600 

Total  

75 

$117,450 

*  Including  1  telephone  operator,  1  chauffeur  and  2  constables. 

B.     The  Building  Commissioner. 
The   building   law   (Acts   of   1907,    ch.    550,   sec.    1) 
provides  that  thfc  Building  Department  shall  be  under 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  9 

the  charge  of  a  building  commissioner,  appointed  by 
the  Mayor  for  a  term  of  five  years,  at  an  annual 
salary  of  $5,000,  who  shall  have  had  at  least  five  years' 
experience  as  an  architect,  a  builder  or  a  civil  engineer. 
The  present  commissioner  was  appointed  on  May  1, 
1908.  He  is  an  architect  of  twenty-five  years'  experience 
and  was  a  member  of  the  old  Board  of  Appeal  for 
fifteen  years,  retiring  in  1907.  He  is  regarded  by 
architects  and  builders  generally  as  a  man  of  strict 
integrity,  and  of  ample  qualifications  for  his  position. 
He  knows  the  building  law  and  performs  his  duties 
conscientiously  and  in  a  spirit  of  fairness  towards 
architects,  builders  and  the  employees  of  the  Building 
Department.  The  Finance  Commission  believes  he 
has  performed  valuable  services  in  a  most  trying  posi- 
tion and  that  a  change  would  probably  result  in  loss  to 
the  city. 

The  Building  Commissioner,  however,  would  have 
performed  even  more  valuable  service  to  the  city  if, 
prior  to  the  beginning  of  the  commission's  investiga- 
tion, he  had  addressed  himself  more  vigorously  to  the 
work  of  reform  in  the  department.  Having  authority 
to  require  proper  plans  to  be  filed  by  persons  desiring 
building  permits,  he  allowed  a  system  to  continue  up 
to  the  present  year,  under  which  permits  have  been 
issued  on  plans  which  did  not  show  essential  details 
of  construction.  He  knew  that  the  class  known  as 
"  jerry-builders"  were  a  menace  to  public  safety,  because 
of  their  avarice,  or  carelessness,  or  incompetency,  yet 
he  has  not  always  exercised  his  legal  authority  over 
them  to  the  full  extent  required,  nor  has  he  concentrated 
his  plan  and  inspection  forces  sufficiently  upon  their 
work.  He  now  approves  the  idea  of  licensing  persons 
in  charge  of  building  operations,  upon  proof  of  their 
qualifications,  but  though  knowing  that  this  requirement 
has  worked  well  in  the  case  of  plumbers  and  gas  fitters, 
and"  knowing  of  a  recommendation  to  this  effect  in  the 
department's  report  of  February  1,  1897  (City  Doc.  4  of 
1897,  page  3),  he  took  no  steps  to  procure  the  necessary 


10  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

legislation  until  after  the  occurrence  of  the  building  col- 
lapses of  last  year.  Though  strictly  honest,  and  desirous 
of  keeping  his  department  free  from  demoralizing  influ- 
ences, he  has  not  been  active  enough  in  hunting  down 
rumors  of  graft  which  have  been  brought  to  his  atten-' 
tion,  nor  has  he  dealt  with  his  employees  with  sufficient 
severity  to  maintain  the  discipline  required  in  a  depart- 
ment upon  which  the  safety  of  the  public  so  largely 
depends.  He  might  have  secured  the  removal  of 
certain  employees  who  were  a  detriment  to  the  depart- 
ment, if  he  had  attempted  it,  but  either  because  of 
the  difficulty  of  removing  employees  who  are  under 
the  protection  of  the  civil  service  laws,  or  who  might 
be  protected  by  their  political  connections,  he  has 
not  made  the  attempt  in  any  case  except  one.  In  that 
case  the  removal  was  accomplished.  In  short,  though 
he  has  done  valuable  work  under  the  system  he  found 
in  existence  when  he  -became  head  of  the  department, 
and  has  made  some  improvements  in  it,  he  has  not 
shown  as  much  initiative  and  vigor  in  originating  and 
executing  plans  for  improvement  as  the  conditions 
required. 

C.     The  Clerical  Division. 

The  head  of  the  clerical  division  is  called  the  clerk 
of  the  department  and  receives  a  salary  of  $2,500  a 
year.  In  1878,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  he  entered  the 
department  as  a  permit  clerk,  and  in  1881  was  appointed 
to  his  present  position.  His  thirty-four  years'  experi- 
ence in  the  department  has  made  him  familiar  with  its 
work  and  methods,  and  he  has  devoted  considerable 
time  to  the  study  of  the  building  laws.  Besides  having 
charge  of  the  work  of  the  clerical  division,  he  personally 
prepares  the  statistical  and  other  data  for  presentation 
in  the  department's  annual  reports,  and  assists  the 
commissioner  in  preparing  the  cases  that  go  to  the 
Board  of  Appeal.  Under  his  direction  the  office  *cor- 
respondence  is  attended  to,  the  various  papers  and 
documents,  which  are  required  by  law  or  by  the  existing 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  11 

practice  in  the  department,  are  filed  and  recorded, 
indexes  are  kept  and  notices  are  issued.  In  many 
respects  the  work  is  well  done,  but  it  is  open  to  criticism 
in  other  respects.  The  commission's  unfavorable  criti- 
cism relates  to  the  annual  reports  and  to  certain  gaps 
in  the  records,  both  of  which  subjects  are  treated  in 
other  parts  of  this  report. 

D.    .The  Plan  Division. 

This  division  receives  and  examines  all  applications, 
with  the  accompanying  plans  and  drawings,  for  permits 
for  the  erection  and  alteration  of  buildings,  the  setting 
of  boilers,  engines,  etc.,  and  makes  reports  thereon  to 
the  Building  Commissioner. 

The  head  of  the  division,  who  is  now  about  sixty- 
five  years  old,  entered  the  Building  Department  in 
1878,  having  had  ten  years'  previous  experience  in  an 
architect's  office  and  five  years'  experience  as  an  archi- 
tect on  his  own  account.  In  1881  he  was  given  charge 
of  the  plans  filed  with  the  department,  and  has  since 
remained  at  the  head  of  this  division.  His  present 
title  is  superintendent  of  plans,  and  his  salary  is 
$2,800  a  year.  He  has*  three  assistants,  two  rated  as 
architects,  and  one  as  a  draughtsman,  appointed 
respectively  in  1901,  1903  and  1911,  the  first  two  having 
had  previous  experience  as  architects,  and  the  third 
having  previously  been  a  draughtsman  in  an  architect's 
office.  Each  of  the  two  former  receives  a  salary  of 
$1,400  a  year,  and  the  latter  $1,300  a  year. 

The  work  of  the  division  is  not  done  in  a  perfunctory 
manner,  as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  last  year  approval 
was  refused  on  1,247  out  of  a  total  of  6,141  plans  filed, 
or  more  than  one-fifth  of  the  entire  number.  The 
work,  however,  is  not  done  as  well  as  it  should  be. 
There  are  marked  differences  in  the  abilities  of  the  four 
members  of  the  division,  the  head  of  the  division  being 
the  best  qualified  by  reason  of  his  long  experience.  Yet 
the  work  is  distributed  in  turns,  generally  without  regard 


12  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

to  ii4S  difficulty,  although  the  latest  appointee  is  confined 
more  to  plans  for  second  and  third  class  buildings  than 
are  the  older  and  more -experienced  officials.  As  a  rule 
the  superintendent  of  plans  accepts  the  judgment  of  his 
subordinates,  and  the  Building  Commissioner  accepts  the 
judgment  of  the  superintendent,  so  that  permits  may,  and 
do,  issue  on  the  judgment  of  the  least  qualified.  In  the 
case  of  the  Hanover  street  building  which  collapsed,  caus- 
ing several  deaths,  the  superintendent  did  not  examine 
the  plan,  but,  relying  on  the  judgment  of  the  employee 
who  did,  he  recommended  the  granting  of  the  permit 
and  the  Building  Commissioner  granted  it.  The 
superintendent  has  since  stated  to  the  Finance  Com- 
mission that  if  he  had  examined  that  plan  he  would 
not  have  approved  it. 

No  one  in  this  division  has  specialized  on  steel  or 
reinforced  concrete  construction  and  there  has  long 
been  a  need  for  the  services  of  a  structural  engineer. 
Both  the  head  of  the  division  and  the  Building  Com- 
missioner have  been  aware  of  this  defect  in  the  organiza- 
tion, but  it  has  not  been  remedied.  The  Building 
Commissioner  is  authorized  by  law  to  impose  such  con- 
ditions as  he  sees  fit  in  a  permit  for  the  structural  use 
of  reinforced  concrete  and,  as "  there  is  no  one  in  the 
plan  division  capable  of  passing  upon  such  matters, 
he  has  until  recently  required  the  plans  for  all  such 
structures  to  be  approved,  at  the  expense  of  the  appli- 
cant, by  an  engineer  selected  by  the  commissioner 
out  of  four  engineers  not  in  the  city's  employ.  At 
the  present  time  such  plans  are  submitted  to  the  engineer 
of  the  bridge  and  ferry  division  of  the  Public  Works 
Department,  under  an  arrangement  between  the  Com- 
missioner of  Public  Works  and  the  Building  Com- 
missioner, and  the  owners  of  buildings  have  thereby 
been  relieved  of  the  expense. 

The  division,  in  trying  to  explain  to  owners  or  builders 
the  imperfections  of  plans,  has  wasted  much  time  which 
could  have  been  saved  if  such  plans  had  been  rejected 
with  instructions  to  bring  in  proper  plans  prepared  by 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  13 

competent  architects.  If  this  had  been  done  the  builders 
who  have  employed  incompetent  architects,  or  compe- 
tent architects  who  were  paid  so  little  that  they  could 
not  afford  to  spend  enough  time  on  the  plans  to  do  good 
work,  would  have  learned  by  this  time  that  they  were 
losing  both  time  and  money  by  presenting  improper 
plans  to  the  Building  Department. 

The  division  has  also  been  hampered  by  the  fact 
that  its  examination  of  plans  has  been  made  in  a  room 
open  to  the  public,  with  no  privacy,  and  subject  to 
interruptions  so  frequent  as  often  to  prevent  the  con- 
centration of  mind  which  the  study  of  plans  requires. 

The  plan  division  is  one  of  the  most  important  in  the 
department,  but  its  actual  needs,  though  known,  have 
been  long  neglected.  It  should  be  thoroughly  reor- 
ganized without  unnecessary  delay. 

E.     The  Construction  Division. 

It  is  the  duty  of  this  division  to  examine  the  premises 
when  an  application  is  made  to  erect  a  building;  to 
examine  as  often  as  practicable  every  building  in  process 
of  construction  or  repair;  to  examine  buildings  damaged 
by  fire,  or  reported  or  believed  to  be  unsafe;  to  investi- 
gate and  report  upon  the  origin  of  fires,  and  to  inspect 
the  erection  of  boilers,  engines  and  other  structures. 

The  head  of  the  division  was  appointed  to  his  present 
position  in  1903  under  the  title  of  supervisor  of  con- 
struction and  his  salary  is  $2,500  a  year.  He  is  fifty- 
nine  years  old  and  has  been  connected  since  youth 
with  the  building  business  as  carpenter,  builder,  and 
employee  of  the  Public  Buildings  or  the  Building 
Department,  except  for  about  seven  years,  when  he 
was  employed  in  the  Sealer-  of  Weights  and  Measures 
D'epartment.  His  practical  experience  has  made  him 
familiar  with  the  building  law  and  with  methods  of 
construction  generally,  but  his  .qualifications  for  the 
supervision  of  the  larger  buildings  of  first-class  con- 
struction are  not  as  good  as  the  city  should  require 
for  such  an  important  position.  He  should  be  retained 


14  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

in  the  capacity  of  assistant  supervisor,  as  hereinafter 
described,  and  one  better  qualified  to  deal  with  the 
larger  and  more  difficult  problems  should  be  made 
supervisor  of  construction  with  a  higher  salary. 

There  are  now  eighteen  inspectors  of  construction 
in  this  division,  an  increase  of  four  having  been  made 
this  year.  There  are  fifteen  whose  ages  range  from 
twenty-eight  to  fifty-four  years,  and  there  are  three 
who  are  sixty-three,  sixty-seven  and  seventy-two  years 
old  respectively,  two  of  them  being  veterans  of  the 
Civil  War.  The  list  includes  architects,  engineers, 
builders,  carpenters,  masons  and  bricklayers ;  some 
have  had  experience  as  foremen  of  construction  and 
all  seem  qualified  for  their  duties. 

Considering  the  many  difficulties  they  encounter,  the 
inspectors  seem  to  have  been  too  severely'  criticised, 
although  the  record  of  the  division  has  been  marred 
by  some  building  collapses  which  might  have  been 
prevented  if  certain  inspectors  had  been  more  diligent 
in  their  work  and  more  exacting  with  the  builders. 
They  have  been  too  much  inclined  to  take  for 
granted  that  foundations  which  have  been  covered 
up  in  their  absence  have  been  properly  constructed. 
Thus,  if  the  inspector  on  the  building  at  the  corner  of 
Hanover  and  Battery  streets  had  insisted  upon  having 
an  excavation  made  so  that  he  could  examine  the 
pier  upon  which  the  column  rested,  he  would  have 
discovered  that  the  pier  had  been  improperly  con- 
structed, and  he  could  have  ordered  the  builder  to 
reconstruct  the  pier  and  thus  prevent  the  loss  of  life 
which  resulted  from  the  collapse  of  the  pier.  The 
weakness  of  the  department's  system  in  failing  to 
require  a  proper  examination  of  the  land  upon  which  a 
building  is  to  be  erected  was  also  shown  in  this  case,  for 
the  application  and  plans  were  for  a  new  building, 
apparently  upon  a  new  foundation,  yet  there  was  on 
the  premises  an  old  foundation  upon  which  the  owner 
intended  to  build,  and  there  was  a  well  under  that 
foundation,  which  afterwards  had  to  be  filled  up..  The 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  15 

department  now  requires  an  adequate  inspection  of  the 
land.  Likewise  loss  of  life  could  have  been  prevented 
in  the  building  at  15-17  Edinboro'  street  if  the  inspector, 
who  had  repeatedly  warned  the  builder  about  the  sup- 
port under  the  building,  had  brought  the  dangers  of  the 
situation  to  the  attention  of  the  Building  Commis- 
sioner and  the  latter  had  exercised  the  powers  given 
him  by  the  building  law.  That  law  (Acts  of  1907, 
ch.  550,  sec.  4)  authorizes  the  commissioner  to  give 
written  notice  of  the  dangerous  condition  of  a  building 
or  structure  to  the  owner,  agent,  or  any  other  person 
having  an  interest  therein.  If  the  owner,  agent  or 
other  person  in  interest  does  not  make  the  building 
safe,  the  commissioner,  "under  sec.  5  of  said  act,  may 
secure  the  same  or,  under  sec.  4,  may,  with  written 
approval  of  the  Mayor,  order  the  building  to  be  vacated 
forthwith.  These  sections  of  the  statute  are  usually 
invoked  in  the  case  of  completed  buildings  which  are 
occupied  by  tenants,  but  there  is  no  apparent  reason 
why  these  powers  may  not  be  exercised  in  the  case  of  a 
building  in  process  of  erection,  particularly  where,  as  in 
the  Edinboro'  street  case,  the  lives  of  numbers  of  work- 
men in  various  parts  of  the  building  are  in  constant 
danger  because  of  the  building's  insufficient  supports. 
The  commissioner  was  not  made  aware  of  the  dangerous 
condition  of  the  Edinboro'  street  building  by  the  inspec- 
tor, and  the  builder  was  allowed  to  continue  the  work 
of  construction  without  strengthening  the  single  sup- 
port, which  consisted  of  a  piece  of  joist  placed  on  top 
of  a  screw-jack.  The  support  failed  because  of  its 
insufficiency,  or  because  it  was  struck  by  a  falling  plank 
or  by  a  hod  in  the  hands  of  a  workman;  the  building 
collapsed,  one  man  was  killed  and  several  others  were 
seriously  injured. 

In  this  connection  it  should  be  said  that,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  engineer  of  the  Finance  Commission, 
who  made  an  examination  of  the  four  buildings  which 
collapsed  near  the  junction  of  Saratoga  and  Bennington 
streets,  East  Boston,  and  of  the  building  at  9  Charter 


16  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

street  which  also  collapsed,  no  blame  can  be  attached  to 
the  building  inspectors  or  any  of  the  officials  of  the 
Building  Department.  The  collapse  of  the  four  buildings 
in  East  Boston  was  due  to  an  exceptionally  severe  gale, 
and  the  collapse  of  the  wall  of  the  Charter  street  build- 
ing was  due  to  the  overloading  of  floors  by  ignorant  or 
careless  workmen,  and  not  to  any  lack  of  care  on  the 
part  of  the  building  inspector.  The  loss  of  life  in  the 
Filene  and  the  Gilchrist  buildings  was  not,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  commission,  due  to  any  fault  on  the  part  of  the 
building  inspectors. 

The  loose  system  which  prevailed  until  recently 
invited  shirking,  but  better  results  are  now  being 
obtained  under  the  new  and  improved  system  of  check- 
ing up  the  work  of  the  inspectors.  The  present  rules 
require  them  to  begin  their  field  work  at  9  a.  m.,  to 
enter  in  their  records  the  time  when  each  building  is 
inspected,  and  to  be  at  the  office  of  the  department  at 
4  p.  m.,  every  day  except  Friday  and  Saturday,  and  at 
9  a.  m.  on  Saturday,  to  report  upon  the  day's  work  and 
to  receive  new  applications.  An  additional  check 
would  be  provided  if  two  assistant  supervisors  were 
appointed,  whose  duty  would  be  to  spend  practically 
their  entire  time  in  the  field  overseeing  the  work  of  the 
inspectors  and  advising  them  upon  difficult  questions 
of  construction.  If  this  suggestion  be  adopted  and 
young  and  capable  men  be  appointed  hereafter  to  fill 
vacancies  in  the  ranks  of  the  inspectors,  the  present 
number  of  inspectors  (eighteen)  need  not  be  increased. 

All  the  inspectors  have  complained  of  being  over- 
worked, but  with  the  four  new  inspectors  appointed  this 
year,  and  the  aid  of  two  assistant  supervisors,  as  herein 
recommended,  the  work  can  be  properly  done  without 
strain.  The  city  should  not  burden  the  taxpayers  by 
increasing  the  number  of  inspectors  to  the  extent  that 
would  be  required  if  an  absolute  guaranty  of  public 
safety  were  attempted;  nor  could  the  cost  of  such  an 
attempt  be  assessed  directly  upon  the  owners  of  build- 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  17 

ings,  as  it  would  arrest  the  development  of  the  city. 
It  is  not  the  duty  of  the  city  to  give  such  a  guaranty, 
nor  could  it  fulfill  the  duty  even  though  the  force  should 
be  increased  indefinitely.  Such  an  attempt  would  be  as 
futile  as  an  attempt  to  abolish  crime  by  increasing  the 
number  of  policemen,  or  to  prevent  fire  by  multiplying 
the  number  of  firemen.  The  city's  duty  is  only  to  pro- 
vide enough  qualified  inspectors,  under  competent 
direction,  to  take  all  reasonable  precautions  against 
such  dangers  to  public  safety  as  may  fairly  be  antici-' 
pated.  In  the  opinion  of  the  commission  it  can  per- 
form that  duty  by  maintaining  the  present  number  of 
inspectors,  by  providing  for  better  direction  and  super- 
vision of  their  work,  by  maintaining  stricter  discipline, 
by  requiring  that  building  construction  shall  be  in  the 
charge  of  competent  persons  licensed  after  proof  of 
their  qualifications,  and  by  prosecuting  with  vigor  and 
firmness  every  violation  of  the  building  laws  that 
menaces  public  safety. 

F.     The  Egress  Division. 

It  is  the  duty  of  this  division  to  make  examinations 
of  all  buildings  under  sec.  12,  ch.  550,  Acts  of  1907, 
as  amended  by  ch.  369,  Acts  of  1912,  which  pro- 
vide that  "Every  building  shall  have,  with  reference 
to  its  height,  condition,  construction,  surroundings, 
character  of  occupation  and  number  of  occupants, 
reasonable  means  of  egress  in  case  of  fire,  satisfactory 
to  the  commissioner,  except  that  in  all  factories  or 
workshops  hereafter  built  or  altered,  of  second-class 
construction,  where  ten  or  more  persons  are  employed 
above  the  second  floor,  one*  exit  shall  consist  of  a  fire- 
proof stairway  enclosed  in  incombustible  material. 
No  building  hereafter  erected  shall  be  occupied  or 
permitted  to  be  occupied  until  said  means  of  egress 
have  been  provided  in  accordance  with  plans  and 
drawings  approved  by  the  Building  Commissioner." 
It  is  also  required  to  make  examinations  under  various 


18  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

provisions  of  ch.  550  of  the  Acts  of  1907,  relating  to 
factories,  workshops,  buildings  used  above  the  first  floor 
for  the  storage  or  sale  of  goods,  tenement  houses,  etc., 
and  to  inspect  the  physical  condition  of  theaters  and 
other  places  of  public  assembly  as  required  by  ch.  450 
of  the  Acts  of  1904,  and  ch.  550  of  the  Acts  of  1907 
and  acts  in  amendment  thereof. 

The  head  of  the  division  was  appointed  to  his  present 
position  in  1910,  his  title  is  supervisor  of  egress,  and 
his  salary  is  $2,000  a  year.  He  is  now  forty-three 
years  old  and  has  had  about  twenty-five  years'  experi- 
ence in  various  city  offices,  including  the  City  Architect 
Department  and  the  Building  Department.  He  was 
an  inspector  in  the  construction  division  at  one  time 
and  later  was  made  one  of  the  two  supervisors  of 
construction.  His  work  as  supervisor  was  entirely  satis- 
factory to  the  commissioner,  but  he  was  transferred 
and  put  in  charge  of  the  egress  division  because  of  the 
growing  importance  of  that  work,  and  he  has  performed 
his  duties  with  intelligence  and  discretion. 

There  are  now  seven  inspectors  in  the  egress  division. 
The  ages  of  six  range  from  thirty  to  forty-seven  years, 
and  one,  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  War,  is  over  seventy-five 
years  of  age,  having  been  appointed  to  this  position  in 
1906,  by  a  former  Building  Commissioner,  who  knew 
that  he  had  no  special  qualifications,  and  that  he  was 
almost  sixty-nine  years  old.  His  appointment  at  such 
an  advanced  age  to  a  position  requiring  much  physical 
activity  was  made  in  flagrant  violation  of  the  city's 
interests.  The  other  six  inspectors  seem  to  be  qualified 
for  their  positions.  Two  of  them  were  carpenters  by 
trade,  one  having  held  a  position  as  foreman  of  car- 
penters before  he  entered  the  city's  employ;  another 
was  a  bricklayer  and  mason  by  trade,  having  become 
foreman  of  bricklayers  and  masons  before  his  employ- 
ment by  the  city ;  another  was  an  architect,  and  another 
graduated  as  an  engineer  from  the  Institute  of  Tech- 
nology. The  sixth  inspector  was  a  plumber  by  trade 
.and  was  first  appointed  to  the  Building  Department  as  a 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  19 

plumbing  inspector,  but  afterwards  passed  a  civil  service 
examination  as  building  inspector,  and  later  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  egress  division. 

The  construction  division  has  inspected  egress  in 
all  buildings  erected  since  August  1,  1907,  the  date 
upon  which  the  building  law  went  into  effect. 

The  egress  division  inspects  all  buildings  existing 
at  the  time  the  building  law  went  into  effect;  but 
prior  to  June,  1911,  its  work  was  conducted  without 
any  definite  plan.  Most  of  the  time  of  the  inspectors 
was  spent  in  investigating  complaints  of  insufficient  egress 
in  all  parts  of  the  city,  one  inspector  being  assigned  to  one 
section  one  day  and  to  another  the  next  day.  Conse- 
quently very  little  progress  was  made.  Since  June,  1911, 
however,  the  work  has  been  carried  on  under  a  much 
better  system;  the  city  has  been  divided  into  blocks, 
each  inspector  having  a  definite  assignment,  and  up  to 
October  1,  1912,  the  inspection  of  three  of  the  wards 
requiring  the  most  attention  (Wards  6,  8  and  11)  had  been 
practically  completed.  There  will  be  less  difficulty  in 
inspecting  most  of  the  other  wards,  and  if  the  work  is 
prosecuted  vigorously  it  will  be  completed  within  the 
next  five  or  six  years.  Then  the  present  force  can  be 
reduced  in  number.  The  supervisor  of  the  egress 
division  and  one  of  his  inspectors  should  be  retained  to 
continue  the  work  of  inspecting  theaters  and  other 
places  of  public  assembly,  and  two  or  three  of  the  other 
six  inspectors  should  be  retained  to  examine  the  means 
of  egress  in  buildings  where  changes  in  occupancy 
are  made  and  the  buildings  are  used  for  new  purposes 
requiring  additional  means  of  egress. 

The  duty  of  the  egress  division  with  regard  to  the 
inspection  of  theaters,  public  halls  and  moving  picture 
houses  relates  principally  to  an  examination  of  the 
existing  means  of  protection  against  fire.  This  work 
is  in  charge  of  the  supervisor  of  the  division  and  one 
inspector,  another  inspector  being  occasionally  called 
upon  to  assist  in  the  work.  So  far  as  the  commission 
can  ascertain,  the  work  is  well  done.  The  work  of  the 


20  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

egress  division  is  supplemented  by  the  inspectors  of  the 
Police  and  the  Fire  Departments  and  the  Boston  Board 
of  Fire  Underwriters,  and  the  enforcement  of  the  law 
is  made  easier  because  of  the  Mayor's  power  to  with- 
hold licenses  until  such  changes  have  been  made  as  in 
his  opinion  public  safety  requires. 

Though  the  inspection  of  theaters,  public  halls  and 
moving  picture  houses  seems  to  be  executed  in  a  proper 
manner,  there  are  certain  defective  conditions  in  some  of 
them  which  seem  to  be  beyond  the  control  of  the  Building 
Department  or  other  public  authorities.  The  law  of 
1907,  ch.  550,  sees.  77-110,  inclusive,  relates  to  build- 
ings erected  for  or  converted  into  theaters  and  other 
places  of  public  assembly  after  August  1,  1907.  There 
seems  to  be  adequate  protection  so  far  as  new  theaters 
and  other  places  of  public  assembly  are  concerned,  but 
the  provisions  of  the  act  relating  to  theaters  existing  at  the 
time  the  law  went  into  effect  (sec.  Ill)  are  inadequate. 
Though  the  older  theaters  have  provided  various  means 
of  improving  the  facilities  for  preserving  safety,  some 
features  still  remain  which  are  a  distinct  menace  to 
the  public.  While  the  commission  does  not  suggest 
that  the  older  theaters  and  places  of  public  assembly  be 
brought  into  conformity  in  all  respects  with  the  law 
relating  to  new  theaters  and  places  of  public  assembly, 
there  are  certain  important  provisions  which  should  be 
made  applicable  to  all. 

G.     The  Plumbing  Division. 

This  division  is  required  to  inspect  all  plumbing 
work  in  process  of  construction,  alteration  or  repair, 
for  which  permits  have  been  granted,  and  to  report  to 
the  commissioner  all  violations  of  any  law,  ordinance, 
by-law,  rule  or  regulation  relating  to  plumbing.  All 
plumbers  have  been  required  since  1893  (Acts  of  1893, 
ch.  477)  to  be  registered  after  an  examination.  The 
examinations  are  now  held  by  a  board  appointed  by 
the  State  Board  of  Health.  (Acts  of  1909,  ch.  536.)  The 
Board  of  Examiners  must  have  as  members,  a  plumber 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  21 

of  five  years'  continuous  practical  experience,  a  sanitary 
expert,  and  a  third  member  who  possesses  the  qualifica- 
tions required  by  the  State  Board  of  Health.  Unregis- 
tered plumbers  are  liable  to  a  fine  not  exceeding  $50 
for  each  violation  of  the  law;  and  a  registered  plumber 
who  violates  the  provisions  of  law  is  liable  to  said  fine, 
and  for  a  second  offence  his  license  may  be  revoked. 
The  authority  of  plumbing  inspectors  is  defined  in  the 
Acts  of  1893,  ch.  477,  as  amended  by  the  Acts  of  1894, 
ch.  455;  and  the  building  law  (Acts  of  1907,  ch.  550, 
sees.  112-124,  inclusive)  prescribes  the  conditions  under 
which  the  work  of  plumbing  shall  be  carried  on. 

The  head  "of  the  plumbing  division  receives  a  salary 
of  $2,000  a  year,  and  his  title  is  supervisor  of  -plumb- 
ing. The  present  incumbent  of  the  office  entered  the 
department  in  1897  as  a  plumbing  inspector,  in  1900 
was  made  supervisor,  but  in  1906  was  reduced  to  the 
rank  of  inspector.  He  was  again  appointed  supervisor 
in  1908,  and  has  since  held  the  position.  He  is  forty- 
four  years  old  and  had  thirteen  years'  experience  as  a 
plumber  before  he  entered  the  department.  He  appears 
to  be  competent  and,  so  far  as  the  commission  can  ascer- 
tain, his  work  is  performed  efficiently. 

There  are  nine  inspectors,  each  of  whom  receives  a 
salary  of  $1,600  a  year,  and  whose  ages  range  from 
thirty-two  to  fifty-eight  years,  four  being  between  forty 
and  fifty }  and  four  being  between  fifty  and  fifty-eight  years 
old.  The  inspectors  of  plumbing  are  required  by  law 
to  be  practical  plumbers  of  at  least  five  years'  continued 
practical  experience,  either  as  masters  or  as  journey- 
men, during  the  years  next  preceding  the  dates  of  their 
appointments.  All  of  the  present  inspectors  seem 
competent. 

For  the  purpose  of  plumbing  inspection  the  city  is 
divided  into  nine  districts  and  each  inspector  is  assigned 
to  a  district.  Some  inspectors  complain  that  their 
districts  are  too  large,  but  the  commission  believes  that 
the  force  is  sufficient  to  accomplish  the  necessary  work 
and  that  no  increase  in  the  number  of  inspectors  would 


22  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

be  justified.  The  plumbing  inspectors  do  not  have 
the  same  difficulty  that  the  inspectors  of  the  construc- 
tion division  constantly  meet,  namely,  that  caused  by 
untrained  and  incompetent  workmen,  as  all  plumbers, 
unlike  bricklayers,  masons,  carpenters,  etc.,  must  pass 
an  examination  and  receive  a  license  before  they  are 
permitted  to  engage  in  their  trade.  Another  difficulty 
frequently  encountered  by  the  inspectors  in  the  con- 
struction division,  namely,  that  of  having  foundations 
and  other  parts  of  buildings  covered  up  in  their  absence, 
does  not  exist  in  the  case  of  the  plumbing  inspectors, 
as  the  building  law  provides  that  pipes  or  other  fixtures 
shall  not  be  covered  or  concealed  from  view  until 
approved  by  the  Building  Commissioner,  and  that 
"  plumbing  shall  not  be  used  unless,  when  roughed  in, 
the  wastes,  vents  and  back  air  pipes  and  traps  are  first 
tested  by  water  of  sufficient  air  pressure  in  the  presence 
of  an  inspector,  when  such  testing  is  practicable. " 
(Acts  1907,  ch.  550,  sec.  116.) 

H.     The  Gas  Fitting  Division. 

The  inspection  of  gas  fitting  in  the  City  of  Boston  is 
performed  by  the  -Building  and  the  Health  Departments 
under  the  provisions  of  ch.  265  of  the  Acts  of  1897. 
It  is  the  duty  of  the  gas  fitting  division  of  the  Building 
Department  to  inspect  gas  fixtures  when  they  are 
installed;  and  the  consumer  will  not  be  supplied  with 
gas  by  the  gas  company  until  the  Building  Department's 
inspector  has  approved  the  gas  fitting  work.  It  is  the 
duty  of  the  Health  Department  to  inspect  the  old  gas 
fixtures  to  ascertain  whether  they  are  being  maintained 
in  safe  condition. 

The  law  requires  that  all  persons  who  desire  to  engage 
in  or  work  at  the  business  of  gas  fitting  in  the  City  of 
Boston  shall  pass  an  examination  held  by  a  Board  of 
Examiners  consisting  of  the  Building  Commissioner, 
the  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Health  and  a  third 
person  appointed^by  the  Board  of  Health.  When  the 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  23 

board  certifies  that  an  applicant  has  passed  an  examina- 
tion, the  Building  Commissioner  issues  the  license  upon 
the  payment  of  a  fee;  and  if  the  gas  fitter  violates  any 
of  the  provisions  of  the  law,  he  is  liable  to  a  fine  not 
exceeding  $100  for  each  offence  and  his  license  may  be 
revoked  by  the  Building  Commissioner. 

The  present  supervisor  entered  the  department  in 
1897  as  an  inspector  and  in  the  following  year  was 
made  supervisor.  He  is  forty-eight  years  old  and  his 
salary  is  $2,000  a  year.  Before  he  entered  the  city's 
employ  he  had  had  seventeen  years'  experience  as  a 
gas  fitter,  which  qualified  him  for  his  position.  No 
question  has  been  raised  as  to  his  competency,  but,  as 
will  be  shown  hereinafter, .  he  has  neglected  his  duties 
in  respect  to  the  recording  of  accidents  due  to  the 
escape  or  explosion  of  gas,  and  for  years  he  has  been 
borrowing  money  from  gas  fitters  whose  work  is  subject 
to  his  approval  or  disapproval. 

There  are  nine  inspectors  in  this  division,  assigned 
to  separate  districts,  at  a  salary  of  $1,500  a  year  each. 
Their  ages  range  from  forty-four  to  sixty-four  years, 
two  being  over  sixty  years  old.  All  the  inspectors  have 
had  experience  which  tended  to  qualify  them  for  the 
proper  discharge  of  their  duties,  having  been  either 
gas  fitters  or  inspectors  of  gas  companies  for  periods 
ranging  from  twelve  to  thirty-three  years,  and  all 
seem  competent.  The  districts  are  large  and  some  of 
the  inspectors  think  the  work  required  of  them  is 
excessive,  but  there  should  be  no  difficulty,  under  proper 
management,  in  having  the  necessary  work  done  by  a 
force  of  this  size. 

During  the  entire  time  in  which  the  present  super- 
visor has  had  charge  of  the  gas  fitting  division  no 
serious  attempt  seems  to  have  been  made  to  ascertain 
the  number  of  accidents  due  to  the  escape  or  explosion 
of  gas,  or  the  number  of  persons  injured  or  killed  thereby; 
nor  has  there  been  any  adequate  presentation  of  the 
record  of  such  cases  in  the  annual  reports  of  the  depart- 


24  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION* 

ment.  For  eight  years  after  the  year  1902-03  these 
reports  omitted  all  reference  to  gas  accidents,  and  for 
the  greater  part  of  these  eight  years  the  records  of  the 
department  show  such  a  small  number  of  gas  accidents 
as  to  indicate  that  the  recording  system  had  almost 
entirely  broken  down.  Further  evidence  of  neglect 
was  found  in  the  fact  that  twenty-two  gas  accidents, 
or  one-fifth  of  the  number  shown  on  the  department's 
records  from  1898-99  to  1902-03,  inclusive,  did  not 
appear  in  the  annual  reports. 

The  supervisor  depended  upon  the  newspapers  for 
information  as  to  such  accidents,  instead  of  finding 
and  using  more  reliable  sources  of  information.  During 
the  present .  year,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Finance 
Commission,  a  system  of  co-operation  has  been  estab- 
lished between  the  Police  and  Building  Departments, 
by  means  of  which  the  Building  Department  receives 
notices  of  gas  accidents  from  the  Police  Department. 
The  former  careless  methods  of  procuring  information 
as  to  gas  accidents  caused  wide  discrepancies  between 
the  number  of  such  accidents  recorded  by  the  gas  fitting 
division  of  the  Building  Department  and  the  number 
shown  in  the  reports  of  the  Massachusetts  Gas  and 
Electric  Light  Commission.  Thus,  for  the  period  begin- 
ning January  1,  1898,  and  ending  January  31,  1912, 
the  records  of  the  Gas  and  Electric  Light  Commission 
show  that  there  were  920  gas  accidents  in  Boston,  in 
which  540  persons  were  killed  and  693  injured;  while 
only  230  such  accidents,  or  one-fourth  as  many,  are 
shown  on  the  records  of  the  Building  Department. 
The  records  and  reports  of  the  Building  Department 
are  also  defective  in  that  they  do  not  show  how  many 
persons  were  killed  or  injured  in  gas  accident  cases, 
the  records  and  reports  in  many  cases  merely  stating 
' '  se v  eral , ' '  without  giving  the  number. 

As  previously  stated,  the  gas  accidents  were  omitted 
from  the  Building  Department's  reports  in  the  years 
1903-04  to  1910-11,  inclusive,  but  their  publication  was 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  25 

resumed  in  1911-12  upon  the  suggestion  of  the  Finance 
Commission.  The  report  for  1911-12,  as  originally 
compiled,  was  defective,  however,  for  it  referred  to 
only  three  of  the  thirty-four  cases  which  were  on  record 
in  the  department.  The  Building  Department  report 
would  have  shown  only  three  gas  accidents,  in  which 
there  were  two  deaths,  if  the  commission  had  not 
learned  from  the  Board  of  Health  that  there  were  many 
more  deaths  from  gas  in  that  year.  The  commission 
called  attention  to  the  discrepancy  and  the  supervisor 
of  the  gas  fitting  division  then  incorporated  in  the  Build- 
ing Department's  report,  under  the  title  •"  Addenda, "• 
thirty-one  more  cases,  in  eighteen  of  which  there  had 
been  fatal  results. 

Complaints  have  been  made  that  gas  fixtures  have 
not  been  properly  inspected  and  that  some  of  the 
numerous  cases  of  asphyxiation  have  been  due  to  this 
cause.  The  reports  of  the  inspectors  do  not  indicate 
that  the  inspections  were  insufficient,  and  it  was  hardly 
to  be-  expected  that  they  would,  as  the  inspectors 
examined  and  reported  upon  all  accidents  which 
occurred  in  their  own  districts.  At  the  suggestion  of 
the  Finance  Commission  this  system  was  abandoned, 
and  such  examinations  are  now  made  by  the  supervisor 
of  the  gas  fitting  division.  In  all  probability  most 
cases  of  asphyxiation  have  been  due  either  to  careless- 
ness or  suicidal  intent  upon  the  part  of  the  occupants 
of  the  buildings,  rather  than  to  insufficient  inspection 
of  the  gas  fixtures. 

There  have  also  been  frequent  complaints  that  the 
gas  fitting  division  has  not  exercised  due  diligence  in 
preventing  unlicensed  persons  from  doing  the  work  of 
gas  fitting.  It  is  difficult  to  secure  evidence  against 
such  offenders,  for  on  the  approach  of  the  inspector 
they  stop  work,  and  upon  being  questioned  state  that 
they  are  merely  acting  as  helpers  for  the  licensed  gas 
fitter  in  charge  of  the  work.  A  large  number  of  offenders 
undoubtedly  have  escaped  because  of  the  difficulty  of 


26  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

securing  evidence  against  them,  but  the  supervisor  has 
not  sought  to  obtain  evidence  against  unlicensed  gas 
fitters  in  a  thorough  and  systematic  manner. 

/.     The  Elevator  Division. 

This  division  is  required  to  inspect  all  freight  and 
passenger  elevators,  dumb  waiters,  lifts,  etc.,  to  inspect 
tests  of  the  safety  devices  on  elevators,  and  to  determine 
the  cause  of  accidents  resulting  from  the  operation 
of  elevators.  The  law  relating  to  the  inspection  of 
elevators  in  the  City  of  Boston  (Acts  of  1907,  ch.  550, 
sec.  38)  provides  many  safeguards  against  fire  and 
accidents  due  to  the  operation  of  elevators,  and  author- 
izes the  Building  Commissioner  to  require  additional 
safeguards  if,  in  his  judgment,  the  condition,  use  or 
surroundings  of  the  elevator  demand  them.  No  permit 
for  the  installation  of  an  elevator  is  granted  until  the 
applicant  has  submitted  and  received  the  approval  of  a 
plan  showing  the  proposed  location  of  the  shaftway  and 
the  area  and  situation  of  the  machine  room,  and  no 
elevator  may  be  used  until  it  is  approved  in  writing 
by  the  Building  Commissioner. 

Under  these  provisions  the  construction  and  use  of 
elevators  has  been  regulated  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
reduce  the  dangers  from  fire  and  accident,  but  the 
protection  which  the  public  has  received  has  been  due 
in  large  part  to  the  frequent  inspections  made  by 
casualty  insurance  companies  and  to  the  watchfulness 
of  the  Boston  Board  of  Fire  Underwriters.  Incompetent 
elevator  inspectors  have  been  appointed  in  disregard  of 
the  right  of  the  public  to  protection  through  proper 
inspection.  The  proper  inspection  of  elevators  requires 
the  services  of  men  familiar  with  electrical  and  mechanical 
engineering. 

The  supervisor  of  the  elevator  division  is  now  sixty- 
seven  years  old.  He  entered  the  city's  employ  as  an 
inspector  of  elevators  in  1888  and  was  appointed  super- 
visor in  1901.  His  present  salary  is  $1,900  a  year.  It 
appears  that  at  the  time  of  his  entrance  into  the  depart- 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  27 

ment  he  did  not  have  proper  qualifications  for  the  work, 
as  his  previous  experience  had  been  that  of  a  sheet 
metal  worker  in  the  heating  and  ventilating  business, 
and,  according  to  his  own  statement,  he  had  had  nothing 
to  do  with  elevators  before  his  appointment.  His 
knowledge  of  the  work  has  been  acquired  during  his 
twenty-four  years'  connection  with  this  division. 

There  are  now  three  elevator  inspectors  in  the  divi- 
sion, each  of  whom  is  assigned  to  a  district.  One  of 
these  inspectors,  whose  annual  salary  is  $1,200,  is  now 
sixty-six  years  old,  having  been  appointed  in  1906, 
when  he  was  sixty  years  old  and  when  he  possessed  no 
qualifications  for  this  service.  He  stated  that  in  his 
youth  he  had  assisted  his  father  in  the  carpenter  busi- 
ness, but  had  abandoned  this  calling  for  that  of  a  hair- 
dresser, which  he  followed  until  about  a  year  prior  to  his 
employment  by  the  city.  During  the  year  prior  to  his 
appointment  he  had  no  occupation.  A  former  Building 
Commissioner  requested  the  Civil  Service  Commission 
to  send  down  his  name  and,  being  a  veteran,  he  was 
certified  without  an  examination  and  was  appointed 
by  the  commissioner.  The  appointment  of  a  man  sixty 
years  old  by  one  who  knew  he  had  no  qualifications 
for  the  office  was  in  direct  violation  of  the  city's  inter- 
ests and  a  menace  to  public  safety. 

One  of  the  other  inspectors  was  appointed  in  1911; 
he  is  now  thirty-nine  years  old  and  his  salary  is  $1,600 
a  year.  Before  he  entered  the  city's  service  in  1898  he 
was  engaged  for  about  eleven  years  in  various  kinds 
of  construction  and  electrical  work,  including  the  set- 
ting up  of  machinery  and  the  installation  of  elevators. 
From  1898  to  1911  he  was  employed  by  the  city  as  an 
electrical  engineer  in  the  Public  Buildings  Department. 
He  seems  qualified  for  the  performance  of  his  duties 
as  an  elevator  inspector.  His  appointment  strength- 
ened the  elevator  division,  as  at  that  time  it  had  only 
two  inspectors,  neither  of  whom  was  able  to  perform 
the  necessary  work  in  the  proper  manner*  .:,:, 

The   third   inspector   was   appointed   in    September, 


28  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

1912,  at  a  salary  of  $1,500  a  year.  He  is  forty-eight 
years  old  and  seems  to  be  qualified  for  the  work,  as  he 
was  a  manufacturer  of  elevator  gates,  dumb  waiters, 
locks  and  other  elevator  fixtures,  for 'fifteen  years  prior 
to  his  appointment.  He  succeeded  an  employee,  now 
deceased,  who  was  appointed  in  1906  when  he  was 
sixty-five  years  old  and  was  physically  incapacitated 
from  following  his  former  occupation.  The  circum- 
stances under  which  he  and  the  other  elevator  inspector 
who  was  appointed  at  the  age  of  sixty  years  obtained 
their  positions  with  the  city  show  that  the  former 
Building  Commissioner  who  made  the  appointments, 
and  the  Mayor  who  approved  them,  were  entirely 
indifferent  to  the  needs  of  this  important  branch  of  the 
city's  service. 

The  reports  of  the  Building  Department  for  the 
ten  years  1893-94  to  1902-03,  inclusive,  show  that  there 
were  231  elevator  accidents  in  that  period,  in  ninety- 
four  of  which  there  were  fatal  results.  In  the  annual 
reports  for  the  eight  years  following  the  year  1902-03 
the  record  of  such  accidents  was  deliberately  omitted, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  departmental  reports  generally 
had  been  criticised  as  being  too  voluminous,  but  the 
omission  of  this  record  from  the  reports  of  a  department 
of  public  safety  was  mistaken  policy.  The  annual 
report  for  1911-12  shows  that  there  were  fifty-two 
elevator  accidents  in  that  year,  in  thirteen  of  which 
there  were  fatal  results.  The  records  and  reports  have 
been  so  badly  prepared,  however,  that  it  is  impossible 
to  find  out  how  many  persons  have  met  death  through 
elevator  accidents  in  any  of  the  years  between  1893 
and  the  present  time. 

J .  The  Existing  Tenement  House  Division. 
Sections  42-76,  inclusive,  of  the  building  law  (ch. 
550  of  the  Acts  of  1907)  relate  to  tenement  houses. 
Section  42  defines  a  tenement  house  as  "any  house, 
building,  structure  or  portion  thereof,  occupied,  or 
adapted  for  occupation,  as  a  dwelling  by  more  than 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  29 

three  families  living  independently  of  one  another  and 
doing  their  cooking  upon  the  premises,  or  by  more  than 
two  families  above  the  first  story  so  living  and  cooking." 
A  family  within  the  meaning  of  this  section  may  con- 
sist of  one  or  more  persons.  An  "  existing  tenement 
house"  is  any  building  " erected  as  such  or  converted 
to  such  use  or  as  altered  for  such  use  or  so  used  before 
the  passage  of  this  act,  and  any  building  adapted  for 
such  use  provided  that  a  permit  was  issued  for  the 
erection  of  said  building,  before  the  passage  of  this  act." 

The  existing  tenement  house  division  is  required  to 
inspect  existing  tenement  houses  with  reference  to 
lighting,  ventilation  and  the  maintenance  of  skylights, 
and  also  to  inspect  all  tenement  houses  in  respect  to 
bakeries,  fat-boiling  plants  or  other  dangerous  occupa- 
tions carried  on  therein.  The  pro  visions,  of  law  relating 
to  the  duties  of  the  existing  tenement  house  division 
specifically  prescribe  the  conditions  which  must  exist 
therein  and  any  mechanic  of  intelligence  should  be  able 
to  perform  the  duty  of  inspection  in  a  proper  manner, 
but  there  is  difficulty  in  determining  whether  certain 
duties  with  respect  to  existing  tenement  houses  belong 
under  the  law  to  the  Building  Department  or  to  the 
Health  Department. 

The  chief  inspector  of  this  division  is  forty-six  years 
old  and  receives  a  salary  of  $1,700  a  year.  Before  he 
entered  the  city's  employ  he  had  eighteen  years'  experi- 
ence as  a  practical  plumber.  In  1896  he  was  appointed 
to  the  position  of  plumbing  inspector  in  the  Building 
Department,  and  in  1907  he  was  appointed  to  his 
present  position  in  the  existing  tenement  house  division. 

There  are  two  other  inspectors  in  this  division.  One 
of  them,  who  is  forty-seven  years  old,  had  seventeen 
years'  experience  as  a  plumber  before  his  appointment 
to  the  Water  Department  as  a  plumber  in  1900.  From 
1902  to  1906  he  was-  not  in  the  city's  employ,  but  in 
1906  he  was  appointed  to  the  Building  Department  as 
a  plumbing  inspector,  and  was  transferred  to  the  exist- 
ing tenement  house  division  in  1911.  His  salary  is 


30  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

$1,600  a  year.  The  other  inspector  is  thirty-eight 
years  old  and  receives  a  salary  of  $1,300  a  year.  He 
studied  surveying  and  engineering  for  three  years 
prior  to  his  appointment  in  1891  to  the  Surveying 
Department  of  the  city.  He  remained  in  the  Surveying 
Department  until  1899,  when  he  was  transferred  to  the 
Building  Department,  where  he  was  assigned  to  the 
duty  of  drawing  plans  for  fire  escapes.  In  1909  he  was 
assigned  to  the  existing  tenement  house  division. 

The  division  has  completed  the  inspection  of  existing 
tenement  houses  in  Wards  1  to  15,  inclusive,  except  as 
to  parts  of  Wards  9  and  12,  and  has  completed  part  of 
Ward  18.  The  chief  inspector  and  his  subordinates 
seem  competent,  the  work  is  laid  out  on  a  definite  plan, 
and  apparently  it  is  being  performed  in  an  efficient 
manner. 

3.     THE  ENFORCEMENT  OF  THE  BUILDING  LAW. 

There  is  a  class  of  builders  which,  with  little  or  no 
regard  for  public  safety,  takes  advantage  of  every  oppor- 
tunity to  save  money  by  the  use  of  low  priced,  inferior 
materials  and  the  employment  of  low  paid,  unskillful 
workmen.  Their  building  operations  need  constant 
watching,  for  they  do  not  hesitate  to  violate  the  law 
whenever  they  think  it  profitable  to  do  so.  If  the  Build- 
ing Department  had  proceeded  against  them  with  the 
intention  of  extirpating  them  unless  they  lived  up  to 
the  law,  and  the  Law  Department  had  cooperated  with 
the  Building  Department  in  the  same  spirit,  this  class 
of  builders  would  now  either  be  obeying  the  law  or  be 
out  of  business.  Neither  the  Building  Department  nor 
the  Law  Department,  however,  has  exercised  its  full 
powers  to  compel  this  class  to  live  up  to  the  building 
laws. 

The  failure  to  enforce  the  law  has  not  been  due  to 
any  weakness  in  the  law  itself,  for  the  authority  given 
is  broad  enough  to  satisfy  all  requirements.  Thus, 
under  sec.  127  of  the  building  law  (ch.  550  of  the 
Acts  of  1907)  every  structure  and  part  thereof  and 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  31 

appurtenant  thereto  is  required  to  be  maintained  in 
such  repair  as  not  to  be  dangerous;  and  the  owner  may 
be  held  responsible  for  the  maintenance  of  all  buildings 
and  structures.  Under  sec.  132  anyone  who  unlaw- 
fully builds,  alters  or  maintains  any  structure  or  any 
part  thereof,  or  otherwise  violates  any  of  the  provisions 
of  the  act,  may  be  punished  by  a  fine  not  exceeding 
$500.  Under  sec.  129  courts  having  jurisdiction  in 
equity  are  given  broad  powers  to  compel  compliance 
with  the  act,  including  the  power  to  restrain  the  unlaw- 
ful construction  or  use  of  buildings,  and  to  order  the 
removal  of  buildings  or  other  structures  unlawfully 
existing.  Under  sec.  130  the  Municipal  Court  of  the 
City  of  Boston,  concurrently  with  the  Superior  Court,  is 
given  jurisdiction  throughout  the  city  of  prosecutions 
and  proceedings  at  law  under  the  provisions  of  the  act, 
and  also  of  all  provisions  of  law  relating  to  plumbing 
and  gas  fitting;  and  under  sec.  131  it  is  provided 
that  the  courts,  at  the  request  of  either  party,  may 
advance  cases  so  that  they  may  be  determined  with  as 
little  delay  as  possible.  These  powers  are  broad  enough 
to  enable  the  Building  Department  and  the  Law  Depart- 
ment to  compel  compliance  with  the  law. 

Notwithstanding  the  amplitude  of  these  powers, 
many  violations  of  the  building  law  have  gone 
unpunished.  Practically  every  official  of  the  Building 
Department  lays  on  the  Law  Department  the  blame  for 
the  non-enforcement  of  the  building  law.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  officers  of  the  Law  Department  maintain 
that  the  Building  Department,  to  free  itself  from 
criticism,  has  flooded  the  Law  Department  with  trivial 
cases,  in  many  of  which  the  causes  of  complaint  could 
have  been  removed  by  the  Building  Department  if  it 
had  used  due  diligence.  The  Finance  Commission 
believes  that  both  departments  have  contributed  to 
the  failure  to  enforce  the  building  laws. 

The  former  Corporation  Counsel  of  the  city  main- 
tained that  it  was  not  his  duty  to  prosecute  criminal 
cases  in  the  lower  courts,  and  as  a  rule  his  assistants 


32  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

preferred  not  to  enter  the  lower  courts;  consequently 
very  few  criminal  prosecutions  have  been  brought 
against  persons  who  violated  the  building  law.  Like- 
wise, the  equity  courts  have  not  been  invoked  as  often 
as  they  should  have  been,  this  failure  having  been  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  officers  of  the  Law  Department 
have  regarded  other  parts  of  their  work  as  more  impor- 
tant than  building  law  cases,  and  have  felt  that  the  latter 
class  of  cases  should  be  attended  to  only  in  their  spare 
time.  The  Building  Department  has  also  been  respon- 
sible in  part  for  the  failure  to  enforce  the  law,  for  it 
has  frequently  waited  for  years  after  the  violation  of 
law  before  referring  the  case  to  the  Law  Department. 

From  1895  to  1911  no  records  were  kept  in  the  Law 
Department  showing  the  number  or  disposition  of  cases 
referred  to  it  by  the  Building  Department.  The  assist- 
ant corporation  counsel  who  had  these  matters  in  charge 
from  1895  to  1907  relied  upon  his  memory,  instead  of 
keeping  a  record  book  or  card  index  which  would  enable 
him  to  tell  at  any  time  how  many  cases  had  been  referred 
to  him  and  how  many  had  been  disposed  of.  The 
assistant  corporation  counsel  who  had  charge  of  such 
cases  from  January,  1907,  to  January,  1911,  seems  to 
Have  followed  the  same  system  as  his  predecessor,  for 
the  Finance  Commission  has  been  unable  to  find  any 
record  book  or  card  index  of  building  law  cases,  and 
other  officials  in  the  Law  Department  state  that  they 
know  of  no  such  record  or  card  index  having  been  kept 
by  him.  A  better  system  was  inaugurated  on  or  about 
January  18,  1911,  by  another  officer  in  the  Law  Depart- 
ment, who  was  given  charge  of  these  cases  after  the 
decease  of  his  predecessor.  He  has  kept  a  card  system 
which  enables  him  to  tell  the  status  of  the  cases  referred 
to  him. 

The  records  of  the  Building  Department  show  that 
from  the  year  1898  up  to  the  18th  of  January,  1911, 
there  were  359  cases  referred  to  the  Law  Department  for 
prosecution  which,  up  to  August  22,  1912,  had  not  been 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.   x         33 

closed  on  the  Building  Department's  books.  It  is 
impossible  now,  owing  to  the  absence  of  records  in  the 
Law  Department,  to  determine  what  the  Law  Depart- 
ment has  done  in  connection  with  these  cases.  Only 
one  case  has  been  found  among  the  number  in  which 
the  law  has  been  complied  with  and  this  case  has  not 
been  closed  on  the  Building  Department's  books.  It 
may  be  that  an  examination  of  the  premises  in  each 
case  would  show  that  there  are  other  cases  in  which  the 
law  has  been  complied  with  but  which  have  not  been 
closed  on  the  books  of  the  Building  Department.  The 
premises  in  each  of  these  cases  should  be  examined  for 
this  purpose.  The  Finance  Commission  believes  it  is 
probable,  however,  that  in  most  of  these  cases  nothing 
has  been  done  and  that,  in  consequence  of  this  neglect, 
many  buildings  exist  which  have  been  erected  or  are 
being  maintained  in  violation  of  the  law. 

The  record  of  building  law  cases  referred  to  the  Law 
Department  between  January  18,  1911,  and  November 
1,  1912,  indicates  that  there  has  been  more  activity 
in  this  period  than  there  formerly  was  in  the  prosecution 
of  such  cases.  Apparently  none  of  the  cases  referred 
to  the  Law  Department  in  this  period  have  been 
neglected.  It  seems  that  483  cases  were  referred  to 
the  Law  Department,  of  which  219  have  been  closed 
by  the  removal  of  the  cause  of  complaint,  and  that  254 
are  pending  in  the  courts  or  awaiting  the  action  which 
the  owners  of  the  buildings  will  take  in  response  to  the 
letters  or  oral  demands  of  the  Law  Department.  Unfor- 
tunately, however,  the  records  of  the  Law  Department 
and  the  Building  Department  are  incomplete  as  to 
these  cases.  The  records  of  the  Law  Department  do 
not  account  at  all  for  two  of  the  cases  referred  to  it, 
and  eight  other  cases  are  recorded  as  closed  which 
should  not  be  closed,  as  the  records  of  the  Building 
Department  show  that  the  causes  of  complaint  have 
not  been  removed.  The  Building  Department  records 
also  are  defective,  as  four  of  the  cases  which  were  not 


34  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

closed  on  its  books  should  have  been  closed,  for  the 
Building  Commissioner  wrote  to  the  Law  Department 
in  each  of  these  cases,  stating  that  the  cause  of  com- 
plaint had  been  removed. 

The  routine  methods  of  handling  complaints  in  the 
office  of  the  Building  Department  have  been  slow  and 
cumbersome.  After  the  inspector  files  a  complaint 
in  the  office  a  notice  is  sent  to  the  owner  of  the  building, 
and,  if  the  law  is  not  complied  with,  a  second  and  some- 
times a  third  notice  is  sent  before  the  case  is  referred  to 
the  Law  Department.  This  is  an  unnecessary  delay. 
As  already  stated,  it  has  often  happened  that  the 
complaint  has  not  been  referred  to  the  Law  Department 
until  several  years  after  the  date  when  the  inspector 
filed  the  complaint  in  the  Building  Department.  In 
many  of  such  cases  the  Law  Department  has  lost  time 
by  reason  of  changes  of  ownership  during  the  period 
in  which  the  Building  Department  has  delayed  action. 

The  records  of  the  Building  Department  respecting 
complaints  are  not  complete.  When  an  inspector  files 
a  complaint  with  the  supervisor  and  the  latter  approves 
it,  it  is  sent  to  the  Building  Commissioner  and,  if  he 
approves  it,  the  complaint  is  recorded  and  a  notice 
is  sent  to  the  person  who  has  violated  the  law.  But 
if  either  the  supervisor  or  the  commissioner  disapproves 
of  the  complaint  nothing  further  is  done  with  it.  In 
such  cases  there  is  no  record  in  the  department  to  show 
that  the  inspector  has  made  a  complaint  and  that 
the  supervisor  or  commissioner  has  not  approved  it. 
This  is  a  serious  gap  in  a  record  system  for  it  gives 
the  supervisor  and  the  commissioner  opportunities  to 
suppress  complaints  without  fear  of  publicity. 

A  serious  discrepancy  was  found  by  the  commission 
between  the  records  of  complaints  outstanding  on  the 
books  of  the  Building  Department  and  the  original 
documents  containing  the  complaints.  The  records  are 
made  up  from  the  original  documents  and  without  this 
supporting  data  it  is  impossible  to  check  up  the  com- 
plaints recorded  on  the  books.  The  records  showed 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  35 

that  from  1902  to  1911,  inclusive,  there  were  1,316 
complaints  pending,  but  on  the  day  of  this  commis- 
sion's examination  (August  13,  1912)  the  cabinet  con- 
taining the  original  documents  of  complaint  held  by 
actual  count  only  168,  or  1,148  less  than  the  record 
book  showed.  The  clerk  of  the  department  could  give 
no  explanation  of  the  shortage,  except  that  everybody  in 
the  office  had  access  to  such  documents  and  that  possibly 
some  of  them  had  been  lost  in  moving  the  department's 
effects  from  the  Old  Court  House  to  its  temporary 
quarters  on  Summer  street. 

The  Finance  Commission  believes  that  hereafter  the 
Building  Department  and  the  Law  Department  will 
cooperate  better  than  they  have  in  the  past  in  enforcing 
the  building  laws.  The  present  Corporation  Counsel 
has  stated  his  willingness  to  prosecute  in  the  criminal 
courts  every  violation  of  the  law  that  is  brought  to  his 
attention.  This  is  a  wholesome  change  of  policy  and 
it  should  be  productive  of  good  results.  The  Building 
Department  should  change  its  methods  of  dealing  with 
complaints  and  instead  of  sending  two,  and  in  many 
cases  three,  notices  before  a  case  is  referred  to  the  Law 
Department  it  should  have  one  of  its  constables  serve 
notice  promptly  upon  the  owner,  and  if  within  a  reason- 
able time  the  cause  of  complaint  is  not  removed  the 
case  should  be  referred  to  the  Law  Department  for 
prosecution. 

4.     IMPROPER  PRACTICES. 

Any  city  department  which,  like  the  Building  Depart- 
ment, is  constantly  forcing  people  to  live  up  to  the  law 
and  thereby  compelling  them  to  increase  their  expendi- 
tures, is  bound  to  be  criticised.  Most  of  the  rumors 
of  graft  in  the  Building  Department  have  been  set 
afloat  by  an  unscrupulous  class  of  builders  and  doubt- 
less many  of  the  rumors  have  had  no  basis  in  fact. 
Some  of  these  rumors  have  proved  to  be  well  grounded, 
however,  and  there  are  strong  reasons  for  believing 
that  still  others  are  true.  Unfortunately  it  is  difficult 


36  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

to  obtain  satisfactory  evidence  of  bribery.  It  is  com- 
mitted secretly,  not  in  broad  daylight  or  in  the  presence 
of  witnesses.  No  one  knows  of  the  transaction  but  the 
two  principals,  who,  for  prudential  reasons,  rarely  confess. 
Unfortunately,  also,  when  in  1907  one  of  the  inspectors 
of  the  Building  Department  was  convicted  of  accepting 
a  gratuity,  he  was  placed  on  probation  instead  of  being 
sentenced  to  imprisonment,  as  he  should  have  been, 
in  order  to  deter  others  from  committing  simitar  offences. 

A.     The  Financial  Dealings  of  the  Supervisor  of  the 
Gas  Fitting  Division. 

It  appears  that  the  supervisor  of  the  gas  fitting 
division  has  been  in  serious  financial  difficulties  for 
several  years.  He  has  borrowed  money  from  profes- 
sional money  lenders,  from  gas  fitters  and  from  his 
own  inspectors.  He  frequently  assigned  his  salary  to 
money  lenders,  but  he  got  the  creditors  to  agree  not  to 
record  such  assignments,  fearing  that  he  would  be 
discharged  if  the  assignments  were  made  public.  Last 
spring  he  made  arrangements  to  have  his  debts  paid  off 
by  a  gas  fitter  who  was  to  b.ecome  his  sole  creditor, 
but  after  this  arrangement  had  been  completed  he 
began  to  borrow  money  from  other  persons,  and  last 
August  he  filed  a  voluntary  petition  in  bankruptcy. 
His  schedules  showed  liabilities  amounting  to  $3,014 
and  no  assets.  Eight  persons  who  have  been  connected 
with  the  building  or  gas  fitting  business  appear  in  the 
bankruptcy  schedules  as  creditors  for  amounts  ranging 
from  $90  to  $573,  the  total  of  the  eight  claims,  being 
$1,268.  Another  creditor,  whose  brother  is  in  the 
gas  fitting  business,  has  a  claim  for  $500  on  a  second 
mortgage  of  property  which  he  did  not  even  take  the 
pains  to  see  before  he  lent  the  money. 

There  is  little  doubt  that  the  gas  fitters  who  lent 
money  to  the  supervisor  expected  favors  of  some  kind. 
After  an  inspector  of  the  gas  fitting  division  had  refused 
to  approve  the  gas  fitting  in  a  building  at  the  North 
End,  the  gas  fitter  telephoned  to  the  supervisor  and  the 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  37 

latter  came  down  and  met  him  on  the  work.  The  gas 
fitter  has  stated  to  the  Finance  Commission  that  he 
then  gave  to  the  supervisor  $3  and  two  cigars,  but  the 
supervisor  denied  this,  although  he  admitted  that 
this  gas  fitter  and  his  brother  had  on  other  occasions 
made  gifts  to  him  of  wine,  turkey  and  crackers.  In 
another  case  the  commission  found  that  a  lender 
either  expected  favors  or  thought  he  was  purchasing 
peace.  The  treasurer  of  the  Welsbach  Company  of 
New  England  lent  the  supervisor  $100,  of  which  $10 
was  subsequently  repaid.  He  stated  to  the  commission 
that  he  wanted  to  keep  friendly  with  the  supervisor, 
and  when  asked  what  his  reason  was,  said,  "Well,  in 
Boston  you  have  to  use  Boston  keys  on  fixtures.  Your 
key  might  not  be  quite  right,  there  might  be  a  shade  of 
thickness.  Now,  you  understand,  I  would  not  want  him 
to  pass  a  key  that  was  not  right,  but  sometimes  when 
the  inspector  knows  you  he  will  not  question  trivial 
things.  For  that  reason  —  and  on  our  jobbing  —  I  did 
not  want  to  be  called  on  a  number  of  times — sometimes 
inspectors  can  make  themselves  very  fussy  and  trouble- 
some if  they  want  to;  they  can  make  trouble  for  you, 
you  understand,  over  something  that  would  pass  all 
right,  but  that  may  vary  a  shade  in  the  manufacture." 
When  asked  whether  the  supervisor  would  allow  certain 
keys  to  be  used  which  did  not  conform  to  the  law,  he 
said,  "The  law  calls  for  a  certain  fixture,  and  some  of 
these  inspectors  take  exception  to  the  least  little  thing, 
but  the  fact  that  I  knew  the  supervisor  made  me  more 
inclined  to  loan  him  the  money.  He  came  over  to  my 
place  in  a  friendly  kind  of  way  and  he  could,  if  he 
wanted  to,  make  me  some  trouble." 

It  also  appears  that  about  three  years  ago  the  super- 
visor obtained  from  the  Boston  Consolidated  Gas  Com- 
pany an  automobile  for  which,  an  officer  of  the  gas 
company  stated  to  the  Finance  Commission,  the  super- 
visor agreed  to  pay  $125.  The  supervisor  stated  to  the 
Finance  Commission  that  this  transaction  was  a  sale 
and  that  he  intended  to  pay  the  $125,  but  he  has  never 


38  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

paid  any  part  of  the  price,  although  he  stated  that  he 
has  since  sold  the  automobile  for  $50;  and  he  did  not 
include  the  $125  as  a  debt  due  to  the  gas  company  in 
the  schedule  of  liabilities  which  he  filed  in  the  bank- 
ruptcy court.  The  officer  of  the  gas  company  stated  to 
the  commission  that  the  gas  company  desired  to  be  on 
friendly  terms  with  the  supervisor,  saying,  "Of  course, 
if  we  are  not  friendly  with  a  man  in  that  department 
he  might  make  it  disagreeable.'7 

The  numerous  instances  found  by  the  commission 
in  which  gas  fitters  lent  considerable  sums  to  the  super- 
visor, sometimes  without  a  note,  and  at  all  times  without 
security,  indicate  clearly  that  the  purpose  of  the  lenders 
was  the  maintenance  of  friendly  relations  with  the 
supervisor;  and  the  supervisor  must  have  realized  that 
these  sums  would  not  have  been  given  to  him  unless  he 
had  the  power  to  disapprove  the  work  of  the  lenders. 
There  seems  to  have  been  no  intention  on  the  part  of 
the  lenders  to  press  for  payment. 

The  supervisor  has  also  borrowed  money  from  one  of 
his  inspectors.  The  inspector  testified  that  at  one  time 
he  indorsed  the  supervisor's  note  for  $250;  that  he 
indorsed  another  note  for  $100;  and  that  he  loaned 
him  $50  at  one  time  and  $40  on  another  occasion. 
He  stated  that  he  declined  to  lend  the  supervisor  any 
more  money,  believing  that  he  was  "  financially  right 
up  against  it."  When  asked  if  the  supervisor  had 
tried  to  get  any  money  from  him  since  that  time  he 
answered,  "No;  he  hardly  speaks  to  me  since  I  told 
him  I  wouldn't  loan  him  any  more;  he  is  very  distant  to 
me."  This  shows  the  demoralizing  effect  of  such  trans- 
actions. The  supervisor  also  asked  a  clerk  in  the 
Building  Department  to  lend  him  money,  and  the  clerk 
got  a  friend  to  discount  the  supervisor's  note.  When 
the  note  came  due,  the  clerk  was  obliged  to  pay  it  and 
the  supervisor  owes  him  a  balance  on  it  still. 

The  financial  transactions  of  the  supervisor  have 
become  well  known  to  persons  engaged  in  the  trade  of 
gas  fitting,  as  well  as  to  the  inspectors  in  his  own  divi- 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  39 

sion.  Such  transactions  necessarily  have  a  demoralizing 
effect  upon  the  public  service.  The  supervisor  has  lost 
the  confidence  of  many  persons  in  the  gas  fitting  busi- 
ness and  of  his  own  inspectors  as  well.  As  one  of  his  in- 
spectors said  to  the  Finance  Commission,  "We  have  not 
got  his  confidence  and  he  has  not  got  ours,  that  is  the 
whole  story."  Under  these  circumstances  he  cannot 
render  the  efficient  service  which  both  the  law  and  public 
safety  require,  and  for  the  good  of  the  service  he  should 
be  dismissed  from  the  department. 

B.  Violations  of  the  Law  by  Certain  Employees  of  the 
Building  Department. 

Some  of  the  employees  of  the  department  have  engaged 
in  private  business,  contrary  to  law.  The  building  law 
provides  that  "No  officer  connected  with  the  depart- 
ment shall  engage  in  any  other  business  or  be  interested 
in  the  doing  of  work  or  the  furnishing  of  material  for 
the  construction,  repair  or  maintenance  of  any  building 
or  in  the  making  of  plans  or  of  specifications  therefor, 
unless  he  is  the  owner  of  the  building  or  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Appeal."  (Sec.  1,  ch.  550,  of  the  Acts 
of  1907.) 

A  former  inspector  in  the  plumbing  division  had  a 
financial  interest  in  a  certain  plumbing  device  which  he 
had  patented,  and  which  was  being  sold  during  his 
connection  with  the  Building  Department.  Another 
inspector,  still  in  the  service  of  the  department,  secured 
a  patent  last  year  for  a  bath  trap  and  sold  it  to  a  con- 
cern in  Boston,  which  pays  him  a  royalty.  Another 
inspector  has  for  years  made  surveys  and  drawn  plans 
of  lots  for  persons  who  paid  him  at  a  lower  rate  than 
that  usually  paid  to  surveyors.  All  three  of  these 
officials,  being  inspectors,  and  therefore,  within  the 
meaning  of  the  law,  "officers,"  have  violated  the  law. 
One  of  them  is  no  longer  in  the  city's  service,  but  the 
two  who  are  in  the  service  should  be  forbidden  to  con- 
tinue their  private  business  under  pain  of  discharge. 
They  should  not  be  dismissed  without  being  given  this 


40  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

opportunity,  as  it  appears  that  they  have  never  been 
told  by  competent  authority  that  they  were  " officers," 
and  therefore  not  permitted  to  carry  on  private  business. 

A  former  clerk  in  the  plan  division  had  for  years 
done  architect's  work  for  private  clients  while  employed 
in  the  Building  Department.  Another  inspector,  now 
head  of  the  egress  division,  drew  plans  for  private 
clients  while  he  was  in  the  plan  division,  and  one  of 
the  present  members  of  the  plan  division  has  also 
drawn  plans  for  such  clients  and  has  not  yet  given  up 
this  practice.  These  employees  were  not  inspectors 
when  they  drew  such  plans  and  they  may  not  have 
been  " officers'7  within  the  meaning  of  the  law,  but 
such  practices  should  be  stopped  by  the  Building 
Commissioner.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the 
persons  who  employed  them  did  so  because  they  were 
attached  to  the  plan  division  of  the  Building  Depart- 
ment, and  because  it  was  believed  that  it  would  help 
them  in  getting  their  plans  approved. 

There  is  considerable  doubt  as  to  how  many  of  the 
persons  employed  by  the  Building  Department  are 
"officers"  within  the  meaning  of  the  statute  and  there- 
fore are  prohibited  from  doing  private  business,  and 
how  many  are  "  employees "  and  therefore  not  pro- 
hibited from  engaging  in  private  business.  The  doing 
of  private  business,  however,  has  a  direct  tendency 
to  demoralize  the  department,  whether  it  is  done  by 
officers  or  employees,  and  the  law  should  be  amended 
so  that  there  will  be  no  distinction  between  these  two 
classes  of  public  servants. 

5.     ANNUAL  REPORTS. 

The  duty  of  compiling  data  and  arranging  it  for 
publication  in  the  annual  reports  of  the  Building 
Department  rests  upon  the  clerk  of  the  department. 
Much  time  is  devoted  to  the  preparation  of  the  annual 
reports  and  they  contain  many  excellent  features. 
Thus  the  first  three  pages  of  the  report  for  the  year 
1911-12  contain  clear  and  succinct  statements  of  the 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  41 

principal  operations  of  the  department.  The  powers 
and  duties  of  the  department  are  set  forth  with 
clearness  and  brevity,  and  the  statistics  showing  the 
estimates,  appropriations  and  expenditures  of  the 
department  are  presented  in  proper  form. 

A.  Unnecessary  or  Defective  Material. 
In  the  reports  of  this  department,  however,  like 
those  of  most  of  the  other  departments  previously 
examined  by  the  commission,  there  are  unnecessary 
features  which  should  be  eliminated.  Thus,  instead  of 
printing  sixteen  pages  of  statistical  tables,  pages  10- 
22,  inclusive,  and  31-33,  inclusive,  showing  (1)  by 
months  the  number  of  permits  issued  for  various  pur- 
poses, the  examinations  made  for  various  purposes,  the 
reports  filed,  the  notices  issued,  the  plans  approved  or 
disapproved,  the  number  of  'elevators  examined  and 
the  number  of  buildings  in  which  egress  has  been 
provided;  (2)  by  months  and  wards  the  number  of 
permits  granted  for  various  purposes,  and  (3)  by 
months  and  wards  the  number  and  estimated  cost  of 
the  various  classes  of  buildings  completed  during  the 
year, —  every  practical  purpose  would  be  served  if  only 
five  pages  of  statistical  tables  were  published,  contain- 
ing the  following  data  classified  by  wards,  namely,  one 
page  showing  the  number  of  examinations  made  for 
various  purposes;  three  pages  showing  the  number  and 
estimated  cost  of  each  of  the  three  classes  of  buildings 
which  have  been  completed  during  the  year,  and  one 
page  showing  the  number  of  buildings  in  which  egress 
has  been  provided.  All  the  data  not  contained  in 
these  five  pages  is  set  forth  adequately  in  the  text  in 
the  first  two  pages  of  the  report.  The  Finance  Com- 
mission has  taken  up  this  matter  with  the  clerk  of  the 
department  and  he  believes  with  the  commission  that 
the  report  could  be  simplified  and  improved  by  the 
elimination  of  much  of  its  statistical  data.  He  found 
that  the  department's  reports  prior  to  1878,  when  he 
took  office,  contained  substantially  all  the  matter 


42  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

which  is  herein  criticised  as  unnecessary,  and  he  said  , 
he  followed  the  custom,  assuming  that  such  data  would 
be  interesting  to  many  persons.  He  admits,  however, 
that  only  a  few  persons  are  interested  and  that  it 
would  be  cheaper  and  better  to  furnish  such  information 
from  the  records  of  the  department  instead  of  incum- 
bering  the  annual  reports  with  it. 

The  data  in  pages  47-50,  inclusive,  of  the  report  for 
1911-12,  seems  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  included, 
but  it  has  been  presented  in  a  manner  which  confuses 
instead  of  enlightening  the  reader.  Some  of  the  tables 
do  not  check  up  with  each  other,  or  with  the  text  in 
the  heading, -or  with  other  tables  printed  elsewhere  in 
the  report.  The -clerk  of  the  department  stated  that 
some  of  the  discrepancies  were  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
tables  on  pages  47-50,  inclusive,  related  to  the  calendar 
year  1911,  while  the  tables  on  page  18  related  to  the 
fiscal  year  1911-12.  Most  readers,  however,  would 
be  misled  by  assuming  that  both  tables  were  for  the 
fiscal  year  1911-12,  and  there  is  no  good  reason  why 
the  data  in  question  should  not  relate  to  the  fiscal 
year  in  both  parts  of  the  report.  There  were  other 
discrepancies  in  these  tables  which  could  not  be 
accounted  for  by  the  difference  in  the  fiscal  and  cal- 
endar years  and  for  these  discrepancies  the  clerk  was 
unable  to  give  any  explanation. 

Between  pages  50-51  of  the  report  for  1911-12  four 
charts  and  four  statistical  tables  have  been  inserted. 
These  charts  and  tables  are  on  long  sheets  which  con- 
stitute about  one-fifth  of  the  entire  bulk  of  the  report. 
They  make  it  clumsy  to  handle,  and  unnecessarily 
increase  the  expenses  of  the  department,  as  they  con- 
tain no  matters  of  general  interest  which  are  not 
sufficiently  set  forth  in  other  parts  of  the  report.  The 
clerk  of  the  department  stated  that  such  charts  and 
tables  were  first  printed  in  the  report  one  year  ago,  some 
of  the  data  having  been  requested  by  officials  of  the 
United  States  Government.  The  Finance  Commission 
has  taken  this  matter  up  with  the  clerk  of  the  depart- 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  43 

ment  and  he  has  agreed  to  eliminate  such  charts  and 
tables  hereafter  from  the  annual  reports  and  to  furnish 
from  the  records  of  the  department  such  data  as  the 
United  States  officials  require. 

B.     Statements  of  Accidents. 

The  statutes  do  not  specifically  require  the  depart- 
ment to  publish  in  its  annual  reports  statements  relating 
to  building  collapses,  elevator  accidents,  accidents  due 
to  the  escape  or  explosion  of  gas,  and  fires  resulting  in. 
death.  The  Revised  Ordinances  of  1898,  however, 
require  a  statement  of  "the  acts  and  doings"  of  the 
department,  and  as  the  duties  of  the  department  include 
the  inspection  of  buildings,  elevators,  and  gas  fixtures, 
and  the  investigation  of  the  origin  of  fires,  such  matters 
should  have  been  presented  in  the  reports  of  the  Building 
Department,  as  it  is  an  important  branch  of  the  general 
system  by  which  public  safety  is  preserved.  Prior  to  the 
year  1911-12,  however,  there  were  no  statements  in  the 
annual  reports  relating  to  building  collapses.  The 
statements  relating  to  accidents  due  to  gas  or  the  opera- 
tion of  elevators  were,  as  previously  stated,  discon- 
tinued after  the  year  1902-03,  and  were  not  resumed 
until  the  year  1911-12.  The  reports  of  years  prior  to 
1911-12  contained  statistics  relating  to  fires,  but  a  full 
statement  of  the  facts  in  the  case  of  fires  resulting  in 
death  was  not  printed  in  any  of  the  annual  reports 
before  the  year  1911-12. 

In  the  last  annual  report  there  are  thirty  pages 
containing  statements  of  various  accidents  caused  by 
the  operation  of  elevators,  by  the  escape  of  gas,  by  the 
collapse  of  buildings  or  parts  thereof  and  by  fires. 
The  various  kinds  of  accidents  are  printed  without 
any  definite  arrangement  and  do  not  always  follow 
the  chronological  order.  In  many  cases  neither  the 
names  of  the  owners  nor  of  the  occupants  of  the  build- 
ings appear.  In  some  cases  only  the  last  name  of  the 
person  injured  is  given,  and  in  many  cases  no  name  is 
given;  in  other  cases  it  does  not  appear  how  many 


44  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

were  injured,  the  record  merely  stating  "several"; 
and  in  still  other  cases  it  is  not  clear  whether  the  injury 
was  fatal.  In  no  case  does  it  appear  that  the  accident 
was  due  either  in  whole  or  in  part  to  the  negligence 
of  the  department's  inspectors,  though  in  at  least  one 
case  known  to  the  commission  careless  inspection  was 
a  contributing  factor.  The  foregoing  clearly  shows 
that  the  summary  of  accidents  was  prepared  hastily 
and  with  little  care. 

There  is  a  legitimate  public  interest  in  the  proper, 
presentation  of  such  material  and  the  reports  in  future 
should  set  forth  the  various  accidents,  briefly  yet  in 
sufficient  detail,  giving  the  location  of  the  premises, 
the  nature  of  the  business  carried  on  therein,  and  the 
names  and  number  of  the  persons  injured  or  killed. 
The  various  accidents  should  be  grouped  under  their 
proper  headings,  and  the  statements  should  be  arranged 
in  chronological  order.  Whenever  the  accident  is 
caused  by  a  defect  in  an  elevator  or  a  gas  fixture,  or 
in  the  construction  of  a  building,  the  report  should 
contain  the  date  of  the  last  inspection  by  the  depart- 
ment and  the  name  of  the  inspector. 

The  printing  in  the  report  of  1911-12  of  the  facts 
in  relation  to  building  collapses  and  other  accidents 
of  various  kinds  was  due  to  a  suggestion  made  to  the 
department  by  the  Finance  Commission.  The  print- 
ing of  the  thirty-one  gas  accidents  set  forth  under  the 
title  " Addenda,"  pages  171-178,  inclusive,  nineteen  of 
which  were  fatal,  was  also  done  upon  the  suggestion 
of  the  Finance  Commission  after  its  discovery  of  a 
discrepancy  between  the  records  of  the  Building  and 
the  Health  Departments.  The  printing  of  the  matter 
under  the  title  " Errata,"  on  page  178,  is  also  due  to 
the  Finance  Commission,  which  checked  up  the  report 
and  discovered  thirteen  errors.  The  commission  also 
discovered  ten  errors  in  the  report  for  the  year  1910-11. 
Such  mistakes  are,  for  the  most  part,  inexcusable  and 
they  seriously  affect  the  reliability  of  the  reports. 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  45 

These  criticisms  of  the  annual  reports  of  the  depart- 
ment clearly  indicate  a  necessity  for  the  exercise  of  far 
greater  care  in  the  preparation  of  future  reports  than 
has  been  shown  in  the  past. 

6.     SUMMARY. 

The  foregoing  review  shows  that  the  defects  in  the 
administration  of  the  Building  Department  have  not 
been  due  to  imperfections  in  the  law,  for  it  provides  ample 
authority  for  the  enforcement  of  its  provisions;  nor 
can  its  defects  be  attributed  to  an  insufficient  number  of 
employees,  for  a  private  corporation  charged  with  the 
duty  of  administering  the  building  law  could  have 
done  the  work  properly  with  a  force  of  the  same  size. 
The  defects  are  traceable  to  imperfections  in  the  organi- 
zation, to  the  lack  of  proper  direction,  to  the  absence 
of  proper  discipline,  and  to  the  influence  of  politics 
in  the  appointment  and  retention  of  certain  employees. 
Politics,  however,  seems  to  have  had  less  influence  during 
the  administration  of  the  present  Building  Commissioner 
than  it  had  under  his  predecessors.  The  system  now 
existing  is  far  better  than  that  which  existed  when  the 
Finance  Commission's  investigation  began,  and  at  that 
time  it  was  better  than  it  was  when  the  present  Building 
Commissioner  first  assumed  charge  of  the  department. 
The  commission  believes  that  if  certain  necessary  changes 
herein  recommended  be  made,  the  Building  Commissioner 
be  given  a  free  hand,  and  strict  discipline  be  enforced, 
the  department  will  be  administered  in  a  proper  manner 
hereafter. 

IV.  DEFECTS  IN  THE  BUILDING  LAW. 
In  the  course  of  its  investigation  the  commission  has 
heard  many  criticisms  of  the  present  building  laws, 
and  has  received  various  suggestions  as  to  their  amend- 
ment, but  the  consensus  of  opinion  of  the  representative 
body  of  architects  and  builders  who  stated  their  views 
to  the  commission  is  that  the  building  law  has  worked 


46  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

well  as  a  whole  and  that  a  general  revision  is  unneces- 
sary at  the  present  time.  There  is,  however,  a  wide- 
spread belief  that  the  law  should  be  amended  as  quickly 
as  possible  in  certain  particulars,  so  as  to  reduce  the 
fire  risks  that  now  exist.  It  has  been  urged  with  great 
emphasis  that  the  present  building  limits  of  the  city 
should  be  extended  and  that  the  erection  of  wooden 
three-flat  houses  in  any  part  of  the  city  should  hereafter 
be  prohibited.  The  Finance  Commission,  however, 
need  not  express  any  opinion  on  this  subject  as  these 
questions,  among  others,  are  now  being  studied,  not 
only  in  their  application  to  Boston  but  to  all  other 
cities  and  towns  within  the  metropolitan  district,  by  a 
special  commission  of  five  members  appointed  by  the 
Governor,  under  the  Resolves  of  1912,  ch.  103,  which 
provides  for  an  investigation  of  the  loss  of  life  and 
property  by  fire,  the  causes  of  fires,  the  improvements 
in  means  for  their  prevention,  and  the  fire  hazard  in  the 
metropolitan  district;  and  also  for  a  report,  with  recom- 
mendations for  legislation,  to  the  next  General  Court. 

A.  PLACES  OF  PUBLIC  ASSEMBLY. 
The  Finance  Commission's  investigation  of  the  con- 
ditions existing  in  some  of  the  theaters 'and  other  places 
of  public  amusement  in  Boston  has  shown  that  the 
building  law  should,  in  the  interests  of  public  safety,  be 
made  to  apply  equally  to  old  and  new  theaters  and 
other  places  of  public  amusement  in  the  following 
particulars : 

1.  In  every  such  place  built  in  a  block,  not  on  a 
corner,    there  should  be  two  open  courts  or  passageways 
extending  from  the  proscenium  line  to  the  line  of  the 
street,  as  now  prescribed  for  new  theaters  in  sec.  79, 
ch.  550,  Acts  of  1907. 

2.  The  entrance  should  not  be  more  than  one  step 
above  the  level  of  the  sidewalk  of  the  main  street  and 
the  stage  not  more  than  5  feet  above  said  level,  as  pre- 
scribed for  new  theaters  in  sec.  82  of  said  act. 

3.  Every    theater    and    place    of    public    assembly 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  47 


having  a  stage  with  scenery  or  other  combustible 
material  thereon  should  have  a  fireproof  proscenium 
wall,  as  prescribed  for  new  theaters  by  sec.  83  of  said  act. 

4.  All  aisles  should  be  of  the  width  prescribed  by 
sec.  88  of  said  act. 

5.  Inclines  in  levels  of  floors  should  be  of  the  grade 
prescribed  by  sec.  89  of  said  act. 

6.  The   aggregate   capacity   of   the   foyers,    lobbies, 
corridors  or  passages  on  each  floor  or  gallery  should  be 
sufficient  to  contain  the  whole  number  to  be  accom- 
modated on  such  floor  or  gallery,  as  prescribed  in  sec. 
90  of  said  act. 

7.  Each  stage  should  have  not  less  than  two   exit 
doors,  as  prescribed  in  sec.  91  of  said  act. 

8.  No  mirrors  should  be  placed  so  as  to  give  the 
appearance  of  a  doorway,  exit,  hallway  or  corridor,  nor 
should   there   be   any  false  doors  or  windows,  as  pro- 
hibited by  sec.  94  of  said  act. 

9.  The  size  and  location  of  exits  should  be  as  pre- 
scribed in  sees.  95,  96  and  97  of  said  act. 

If  these  amendments  of  the  law  are  made,  some 
expense  will  be  caused  to  some  of  the  proprietors  of 
such  places  and  considerable  expense  to  others,  but 
these  considerations  should  be  regarded  as  subordinate 
to  the  safety  of  the  public. 

B.     TENEMENT  HOUSES. 

That  part  of  the  building  law  which  relates  to  tenement 
houses  (sees.  42-76,  inclusive,  of  ch.  550  of  the  Acts 
of  1907)  was  submitted  to  the  Legislature  after  a 
special  commission  on  the  revision  of  the  building 
laws  had  prepared  and  submitted  what  they  deemed  to 
be  a  complete  building  code.  But,  as  the  result  of  a 
compromise,  made  on  the  last  day  of  the  session,  the 
provisions  as  to  tenement  houses  were  embodied  in 
the  building  law  which  was  finally  passed  by  the  Legis- 
lature. Under  such  circumstances  defective  legislation 
was  almost  inevitable.  In  some  respects  the  provisions 
as  to  tenement  houses  seem  to  be  unnecessary.  Thus, 


48  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

for  example,  the  provisions  as  to  egress  in  tenement 
houses  could  have  been  omitted,  as  sec.  12  of  the  build- 
ing law  gives  the  Building  Commissioner  authority  to 
require  reasonable  means  of  egress  satisfactory  to  him 
in  all  dwellings.  It  also  seems  that  the  provisions  as  to 
water-closets  in  tenement  houses  could  have  been  dis- 
pensed with,  as  the  said  sec.  12  gives  the  Board  of 
Health  authority  to  require  such  number  of  water- 
closets  in  any  habitation  as  they  deem  necessary,  and 
sec.  128  of  the  law  gives  that  board  general  authority 
to  make  such  regulations  as  to  the  construction  of 
water-closets,  not  inconsistent  with  other  laws,  as  they 
deem  proper.  There  are  other  provisions  respecting 
the  lighting  and  ventilation  of  tenement  houses  which 
result  in  duplication  by  the  Health  Department  of 
inspections  made  by  the  Building  Department,  and 
vice  versa,  and  there  are  other  provisions  relating  to 
tenement  houses  which  leave  it  doubtful  as  to  which  of 
the  two  departments  has  jurisdiction. 

The  Finance  Commission  does  not  suggest  that  there 
should  be  less  efficient  inspection  of  tenement  houses 
than  is  made  now;  on  the  contrary,  the  inspection 
should  be  as  thorough  as  possible,  but  the  law  as  to 
tenement  houses  should  be  amended  so  as  to  eliminate 
provisions  as  to  matters  fully  covered  in  other  parts  of 
the  building  law,  and  also  to  avoid  unnecessary  duplica- 
tion of  work,  by  clearly  defining  the  jurisdiction  and 
duties  of  the  Building  and  the  Health  Departments. 
The  Building  Commissioner  should  prepare  the  necessary 
amendments  so  that,  if  possible,  they  may  be  submitted 
to  the  incoming  Legislature. 

C.     LICENSING  or  BUILDERS. 

A  recognition  of  the  fact  that  faulty  construction  is 
due  generally  to  the  carelessness  or  incompetency  of 
builders  led  to  the  passage  by  the  Legislature  of  1912 
of  an  act  authorizing  the  City  Council  of  Boston  by 
ordinance  to  prescribe  the  qualifications  of  persons 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  49 

having  charge  or  control  of  the  construction,  alteration, 
removal  or  tearing  down  of  buildings  or  structures  in 
Boston,  the  means  of  determining  such  qualifications 
and  the  terms  and  conditions  upon  which  permits  for 
such  work  may  be  issued  by  the  Building  Commissioner. 
(Acts  of  1912,  ch.  713.)  After  the  passage  of  the 
act  the  Corporation  Counsel  submitted  the  draft  of 
an  ordinance  to  the  City  Council,  and  other  drafts 
covering  the  same  subject  were  submitted  by  the 
Building  Commissioner,  by  the  Master  Builders7  Associ- 
ation and  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce.  These  various 
drafts  have  been  considered  by  the  City  Council,  but 
as  yet  none  of  them  has  been  adopted.  The  Finance 
Commission  believes  that  a  suitable  ordinance  should 
be  decided  upon  and  adopted  as  soon  as  possible. 

V.     RECOMMENDATIONS. 

1.     THE  PLAN  DIVISION. 

That  the  head  of  the  plan  division  receive  an  annual 
salary  of  $3,500,  and  that  there  be  appointed  to  this 
position  a  construction  engineer  familiar  with  the 
theory  and  practice  of  modern  steel  and  reinforced 
concrete  construction,  and  with  sufficient  technical 
training  to  become  expert  in  passing  upon  new  problems 
as  they  arise  in  the  evolution  of  the  art  of  building. 

That  the  present  members  of  the  plan  division  be 
retained  at  their  present  salaries,  and  that  the  present 
supervisor  of  plans  be  made  first  assistant  to  the  new 
supervisor. 

That  before  any  plans  be  approved  a  complete  report 
be  filed  with  the  plan  division  showing  the  condition  of 
the  land  on  which  the  building  is  to  be  erected. 

That  the  plan  division  waste  no  time  hereafter  in 
assisting  persons  who  have  filed  defective  plans  to  per- 
fect such  plans,  but  that  they  be  returned  with  instruc- 
tions to  bring  in  proper  plans,  thus  compelling  such 
persons  to  employ  competent  architects. 


50  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

That  the  Building  Department's  quarters  in  the  City 
Hall  Annex  be  so  arranged  that  there  shall  be  one 
room,  not  open  to  the  public,  in  which  plans  may  be 
studied  without  interruption. 

2.     THE  CONSTRUCTION  DIVISION. 

That  a  supervisor  of  construction  be  appointed  at  a 
salary  of  $3,000  a  year,  who  shall  have  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  modern  methods  of  construction,  gained 
through  actual  experience  as  a  contractor  or  building 
superintendent,  and  who  shall  be  temperamentally 
fitted  to  deal  properly  with  his  subordinates  as  well  as 
with  owners  and  builders. 

That  the  present  supervisor,  at  his  present  salary,  be 
made  an  assistant  to  the  new  supervisor,  and  that 
another  assistant  supervisor  be  appointed  at  an  annual 
salary  of  $2,500  who  possesses  qualifications  similar  to 
those  of  the  new  supervisor. 

That  the  supervisor  of  construction  and  his  two 
assistants  spend  as  much  time  as  possible  in  the  field, 
overseeing  the  work  of  the  inspectors  and  assisting 
them  when  necessary  by  advice  on  difficult  or  disputed 
points  of  construction. 

That  on  discovery  of  any  change  in  a  plan  which  may 
affect  public  safety,  the  inspector  report  the  facts  at 
once  to  the  Building  Commissioner,  and  that  the 
latter  order  the  work  to  be  stopped  until  amended  plans 
are  filed  and  approved.  . 

That  whenever  the  supports  of  any  building  in  proc- 
ess of  construction  are  believed  by  an  inspector  to  be 
insufficient  he  should  notify  the  commissioner  at  once 
of  the  dangerous  condition;  that  the  latter  immediately 
give  written  notice  of  such  dangerous  condition  to  the 
owner,  agent  or  other  person  having  an  interest  in  said 
building;  and  that  if  immediate  steps  to  secure  the 
same  are  not  taken,  the  commissioner,  with  the  approval 
of  the  Mayor,  should  order  all  workmen  and  others  to 
vacate  the  building  forthwith. 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  51 

3.     THE  GAS  FITTING  DIVISION. 

That  the  present  supervisor  be  removed  and  a  com- 
petent person  be  appointed  in  his  place. 

That  greater  care  be  taken  hereafter  in  discovering 
and  recording  cases  in  which  accidents  have  occurred 
through  the  escape  or  explosion  of  gas. 

That  greater  vigilance  be  exercised  hereafter  in 
detecting  persons  engaged  in  gas  fitting  without  licenses, 
and  that  upon  detection  such  persons  be  vigorously 
prosecuted. 

4.     APPOINTMENTS. 

That  no  appointment  be  hereafter  made  until  the 
persons  certified  by  the  Civil  Service  Commission  have 
been  personally  examined  by  the  Building  Commis- 
sioner with  reference  to  their  past  experience,  their 
qualifications  and  their  character;  and  that  the  Build- 
ing Commissioner  request  the  Civil  Service  Commission 
not  to  certify  for  the  position  of  inspector  any  person 
over  forty  years  of  age. 

5.     ENFORCEMENT  OF  THE  BUILDING  LAW. 

That  the  Law  Department  prosecute  in  the  lower 
courts  persons  found  violating  the  building  law,  and 
in  case  of  conviction  for  any  violation  affecting  public 
safety  request  the  court  to  impose  the  full  penalty. 

That  the  Law  Department  notify  the  Building 
Department  not  less  than  once  in  every  three  months 
of  the  status  of  all  cases  referred  to  it  for  prosecution, 
and  that  the  Building  Department  immediately  notify 
the  Law  Department  in  writing  whenever  the  cause 
of  complaint  has  been  removed  in  any  case  previously 
referred  to  the  Law  Department. 

That  if  the  officer  of  the  Law  Department  who  is 
intrusted  with  such  cases  is  not  able  to  dispose  of 
them  speedily,  the  Corporation  Counsel  assign  another 
officer  or  officers  of  the  Law  Department  to  assist  in 
the  prosecution  of  such  cases. 


52  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

That  the  Law  Department  report  to  the  Building 
Department  all  agreements  made  by  owners  with  the 
officials  of  the  Law  Department,  to  remove  causes  of 
complaint,  and  that  the  Building  Commissioner  instruct 
his  inspectors  to  make  examinations  for  the  purpose 
of  ascertaining  whether  such  agreements  have  been  kept. 
The  failures  to  keep  such  agreements  should  be  reported 
to  the  Law  Department  and  prosecutions  should  follow. 

That  the  Building  Commissioner  require  his  inspectors 
to  make  a  special  examination  of  the  premises  in  all 
cases  referred  to  the  Law  Department  prior  to  January, 
1911,  which  still  remain  unclosed  on  the  Building 
Department's  books. 

That  a  record  be  kept  in  the  Building  Department  of 
all  complaints  which  have  been  disapproved  by  the 
Building  Commissioner,  and  that  hereafter  no  complaints 
made  by  the  inspectors  be  finally  disallowed  by  the 
supervisor,,  but  that  such  disallowance  in  each  case 
be  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Building  Commissioner, 
and  that  a  record  be  made  and  kept  of  each  complaint 
so  disallowed. 

That  the  present  system  under  which  several  notices 
of  violations  are  sent  to  the  owner  of  a  building  be 
abandoned,  and  that  hereafter  the  Building  Depart- 
ment, upon  receipt  of  a  complaint  by  an  inspector,  have 
a  constable  serve  notice  promptly  upon  the  owner, 
and  if  steps  are  not  taken  to  remove  the  cause  of  com- 
plaint within  a  reasonable  time,  not  exceeding  two 
weeks,  the  case  be  referred  to  the  Law  Department 
for  prosecution. 

6.     IMPROPER  PRACTICES. 

That  the  Building  Commissioner  establish  a  rule, 
making  it  a  cause  for  discharge  when  any  inspector  is 
found  to  have  solicited,  or  borrowed,  or  to  have  received, 
money  or  other  gratuity  from  any  person  engaged  in 
plumbing,  gas  fitting,  or  building  operations  of  any 
kind,  or  from  any  person  who  owns  or  maintains  any 


REPORT  ON  BUILDING  DEPARTMENT.  53 

building  which  such  inspector  is,  or  may  be  at  some 
future  time,  under  a  duty  to  inspect. 

That  any  officer  or  employee  of  the  Building  Depart- 
ment who  accepts  a  gratuity  or  bribe  from  any  person 
whose  building  or  other  structure,  or  work,  or  plan,  or 
application  for  a  permit,  he  is  inspecting,  supervising 
or  examining,  be  prosecuted;  and  that  the  Law  Depart- 
ment recommend  a  sentence  of  imprisonment  in  every 
such  case. 

That  the  Building  Commissioner  establish  a  rule, 
making  it  a  cause  of  discharge,  when  any  person  in  the 
employ  of  the  Building  Department,  whether  legally 
classified  as  officer  or  employee,  is  found  to  be  engaged 
in  other  business  or  to  be  interested  in  the  doing  of  work 
or  the  furnishing  of  material  for  the  construction, 
repair  or  maintenance  of  any  building,  or  the  making 
of  plans  or  of  specifications  therefor,  unless  he  is  the 
owner  of  the  building;  and  that  all  officers  or  employees 
of  the  Building  Department  who  have  a  pecuniary 
interest  in  the  sale  of  any  device  used  in  connection 
with  plumbing,  gas  fitting,  or  other- operation  connected 
with  the  construction  of  buildings,  be  required  immedi- 
ately to  dispose  of  such  interest  and  be  ordered  not  to 
acquire  such  an  interest  hereafter  under  pain  of  discharge; 
and  that  all  officers  or  employees  be  likewise  forbidden 
under  pain  of  discharge  to  make  plans  or  surveys  of 
building  lots. 

7.     ANNUAL  REPORTS. 

That  the  annual  reports  of  the  Building  Depart- 
ment be  simplified  by  the  elimination  of  unnecessary 
data  as  hereinbefore  suggested. 

That  all  cases  of  accidents  due  to  the  maintenance 
or  operation  of  elevators,  or  to  the  escape  or  explosion 
of  gas,  or  to  the  collapse  of  buildings  in  whole  or  in 
part,  and  of  fires  resulting  in  death,  be  published  here- 
after in  the  department's  annual  reports;  that  such 
statements  be  printed  in  separate  groups  under  proper 
headings  and  in  chronological  order;  that  the  names 


54  BOSTON  FINANCE  COMMISSION. 

and  number  of  persons  injured  or  killed  be  stated; 
that  the  location  of  the  premises  and  the  nature  of  the 
business  carried  on  therein  also  be  given;  and  that 
wherever  the  accident  is  caused  by  a  defect  in  an 
elevator  or  a  gas  fixture  or  in  the  construction  of  a  build- 
ing, the  report  should  contain  the  date  of  the  last 
inspection  by  the  department  and  the  name  of  the 
inspector. 

8.     CHANGES  IN  THE  BUILDING  LAW. 

That  the  building  law  should  be  amended  so  as  to 
apply  equally  to  old  and  new  theaters  and  other  places 
of  public  amusement  in  the  particulars  hereinbefore 
enumerated. 

That  a  suitable  ordinance  requiring  all  persons  in 
charge  of  building  operations  to  be  licensed  after  proof 
of  their  qualifications  be  passed  by  the  City  Council 
and  approved  by  the  Mayor. 

That  the  Building  Commissioner  make  a  study  of 
the  sections  of  the  building  law  relating  to  tenement 
houses  and  prepare  amendments  which  will  better 
define  the  jurisdiction  of  the  HealtE  and  the  Building 
Departments  and  eliminate  all  provisions  which  are 
unnecessary  or  which  now  cause  a  duplication  of  work 
by  said  departments. 

That  sec.  1,  ch.  550,  of  the  Acts  of  1907,  be  amended 
so  as  to  make  the  present  prohibition  against  officers  of 
the  Building  Department  engaging  in  other  business, 
etc.,  extend  to  all  persons  in  the  employ  of  the  Building 
Department. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

THE  FINANCE  COMMISSION, 

by  JOHN  A.  SULLIVAN, 

Chairman. 


Y£  100632 


